A Helios Airways jet with 121 people on board crashed yesterday in a mountainous region north of Athens, defense and fire officials said. Greek fire chief Christos Smetis said there were no survivors.
It was not immediately clear why the plane crashed, but reports said the pilots may have been unconscious when the plane went down.
Firefighters searching for survivors amid the burning wreckage of a Cyprus Helios Airways jet that crashed near Athens Sunday have found "the first dead but still no survivors," a fire department spokesman told reporters.
PHOTO: AP
Officials said the plane crashed at about 12:20pm near the coastal town of Grammatikos north of Athens after losing contact with air traffic control.
Eyewitnesses told an Athens radio station the plane was being followed by air force fighter jets when it went down in a gorge about 40km north of Athens.
"There is wreckage everywhere," Grammatikos Mayor George Papageorgiou said from the scene, saying that only the tail section was recognizable. "The fuselage has been destroyed. It fell into a chasm and there are pieces. All the residents are here trying to help."
The flight, with 115 passengers and six crew members on board, was headed from the Cypriot city of Larnaca to Athens International Airport. According to one report, 80 of the passengers were Greek children returning from a trip to Cyprus. After losing touch with the Athens control tower, the Greek air force scrambled two F-16 fighter jets, reports said.
"The plane crashed around 400m from homes in the area," said Miltiadis Merkouris, a Grammatikos city official.
The air force pilots reported no movement in the cockpit of the plane, and it was unclear if the two pilots were unconscious or not in the seats, reports said. The plane did not respond to radio calls, according to reports.
A passenger on the airliner said in a mobile text message to his cousin before the crash that the pilots were slumped and that it was freezing in the plane.
"The pilot has turned blue [in the face]," the passenger said in the SMS message to his cousin, Greek television reported. "Cousin farewell we're freezing," it said.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist