FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE — A memorial service was held Sunday morning at the Metropolitan Church of St. George in Paralimni to honour the 16 local residents who died in the Helios Airways crash in August 2005.
The ceremony marked 20 years since the tragedy, which claimed 121 lives when the Larnaca-to-Prague flight crashed into a hillside near Grammatiko, Greece, following cabin decompression.
Bishop Christoforos of Karpasia led the service, with Deputy Tourism Minister Kostas Koumis representing the government.
A prayer and wreath-laying followed at the victims’ graves in Paralimni cemetery.
On Saturday evening, 121 candles were lit in the town square to commemorate all those lost in the crash, including 22 children and six crew members.
DOOMED FLIGHT
Helios Airways Flight 522, a Boeing 737-300 registered as 5B-DBY, departed Larnaca International Airport on August 14, 2005 at 9:07 a.m. local time, bound for Prague with a scheduled stop in Athens.
Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft experienced a gradual loss of cabin pressure.
Investigators later found that the pressurization system had been left in manual mode during pre-flight checks, a critical oversight that led to hypoxia and the incapacitation of everyone on board.
Greek fighter jets intercepted the aircraft after it entered Athens airspace unresponsive.
One flight attendant, Andreas Prodromou, remained conscious and attempted to control the plane, but it eventually ran out of fuel and crashed near Grammatiko at 12:03 p.m. local time.
It remains the deadliest aviation accident in Greek history.