Helios confirms Athens crash had pressure problem in December
17.08.05
Helios Airways acknowledged yesterday that the Boeing 737 jet that crashed near Athens on Sunday was the same plane that experienced a decompression problem in the not-so-distant past.
Following widespread media reports about prior decompression incidents, Helios released a statement yesterday acknowledging that the jet, when a jet bound to Warsaw from Larnaca in December last year, was grounded for a week after decompression in the cabin.
'In Helios' six-year history, we have only experienced one incident of decompression on our aircraft. This is not a recurring incident as widely reported and we do not have any other safety concerns regarding the rest of our fleet.'
'The aircraft involved in the decompression incident was flying from Warsaw to Larnaca and landed in accordance with normal procedures at Larnaca airport. This incident was cleared by the Cypriot Air Accident Investigation branch and the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK. The maintenance of the aircraft was not questioned at any time by the authorities.'
'We can confirm that the aircraft that experienced the decompression problem was the aircraft that was involved in this accident,' the statement concluded.
Despite the company's denials that its planes did not face recurring glitches emergency services at Birmingham Airport were put on standby just this Saturday after the pilot of a Helios 737 jet reported mechanical problems.
