Greece sentences air crash hoaxer

The son of the plane's co-pilot says he kept a diary of all his flights

A Greek court has given a six-month suspended sentence to a man who lied about receiving a text message from the Helios plane moments before it crashed.

The Cypriot craft smashed into a Greek mountainside on Sunday morning, killing all 121 people on board.

Nektarios-Sotiris Voutas, 32, was convicted of filing a false report to the authorities.

In Cyprus, the first funerals of those who died in the crash are taking place, as relatives demand justice.

Click here for a graphic showing what happened

Pilot's diary

The funeral of co-pilot Pambos Haralambous took place in the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia.

HELIOS AIRWAYS 1999: Established as first independent airline in Cyprus 2000: First chartered flight 2001: First scheduled flight Flies to UK, Strasbourg, Sofia, Athens, Dublin, Warsaw and Prague Operates four Boeing 737 planes Dangers of decompression Q&A: Greek air crash

Mr Haralambous' son, Yiannis, said his father had kept a diary of all his flights with the airline.

"He told me that if his diary was published then the company would close," he told a television station before the funeral.

Aviation experts and investigators are struggling to determine what caused the crash of the Boeing 737.

The text message sparked a theory that the temperature in the plane had plunged and passengers had been exposed to the freezing temperatures of high altitude.

Initial reports had suggested many of those on board may have been unconscious.

But autopsies carried out on 26 bodies have shown that passengers and crew members were alive when the plane made impact.

Searchers recovered 118 bodies from the site of the crash, near the town of Grammatikos.

A five-year-old boy was among those who were alive as the plane crashed, although coroners say he already had serious injuries.

GREECE AIR DISASTER

1. 0900 [0700GMT]: Helios Airways Flight ZU522 leaves Larnaca bound for Prague via Athens
2. 0920 approx: Plane reaches cruising altitude of 35,000ft
3. 0937: Plane enters Greek airspace
4. 1007: Air traffic control unable to contact aircraft
5. 1030: Greek ATC issues "Renegade alert"
6. 1055: F16 fighter aircraft scramble
7. 1120: F16s intercept aircraft; pilots observed slumped over controls
8. 1205: Aircraft crashes near Grammatikos, 40km north of Athens

Return to the top