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Nitsa Constantinou pictured with her daughter lost her son daughter-in-law and two grandchildren

FIVE years on, the tragic events of 14 August 2005 continue to haunt the families and friends of the 121 souls who perished aboard flight ZU55 of Helios Airways.
The flight, which left Larnaca t 09:07 local time, was en route to Athens, and was scheduled to continue to Prague. Hours later, the Boeing 737-300 hurtled to the ground north of Marathon, Greece, after running out of fuel. No one on board survived the impact.
According to the subsequent fact-finding report, the airflow valve was set at a 14-degree angle from the manual position, allowing for partial pressurisation. For this type of Boeing, it should have been set on auto before takeoff.
According to the report, on the night before the accident, ground crew had reset the switch to manual, but on the fateful day the pilots apparently omitted to conduct the pre-flight checks.
The problem was compounded in the air, when the pilots misread an alarm for a takeoff configuration glitch, because the sound emitted for that is identical to the one for a decompression problem.
Helios maintains the problem with the alarms - which has been documented by several other airlines - is the manufacturer’s fault. They point out also that, in the wake of the Cypriot accident, the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration has instructed Boeing to take corrective steps.
Having mistaken the alarm for a false takeoff configuration warning – which could not be the case, as the plane was already airborne – the aviators were troubleshooting in the wrong direction, while all the time the plane steadily depressurised, leading to the onset of hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, as the two pilots lost consciousness.
The chilling details of the flight’s final minutes in the air have been re-enacted in a Nicosia court: flight attendant Andreas Prodromou’s futile attempts to regain control of the plane, the distress calls that went unheard, the communication between the Greek F-16 fighter shadowing the airliner and Athens control.
The criminal trial began last year. The defendants are Andreas Drakos, chairman of the board of Helios, Demetris Pantazis, chief executive officer, Ianko Stoimenov, (former) chief pilot, Giorgos Kikidis, operations manager; and Helios Airways as a legal entity. They face charges of manslaughter and of causing the death of 119 people through a reckless act.
Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. All defendants have pleaded not guilty.
They are on trial for “employing, and continuing to employ, unfit and inadequate pilots”. Over fifty hearings have taken place so far, with 32 witnesses taking the stand and 25 witnesses remaining. The trial resumes on 24 September.
According to deputy Attorney-general Akis Papasavvas, the trial is in “the final stretch” and is “proceeding at a fast pace”.
Meanwhile, a separate trial will be taking place in Greece, the site of the accident. The defendants are the same as those in Cyprus (bar Andreas Drakos) plus the airline’s former chief engineer, who is accused of leaving the plane’s pressurisation control valve on the manual setting on the night before the flight.
Sofia Charalambous is the widow of Pambos Charalambous, the co-pilot on the doomed flight. Added to the grief of loss, she has had to endure insinuations that her late husband was at fault for the accident.
Charalambous, mother of four, is suing both Attorney-general Petros Clerides and deputy Attorney-general Akis Papasavvas for defamation of her late husband. She is suing the two “because they went on television saying that my husband was an incompetent pilot.”
Charalambous says she doesn’t care if her cause happens to coincide with that of the airline and the defendants, namely, to disprove that the two pilots were unfit to fly.
“All I want is to clear my husband’s name,” she told the Sunday Mail in a phone interview.
“This trial is a smokescreen. They [the state prosecution] are trying to shift the blame onto the two pilots. How convenient, as the pilots can’t defend themselves.”
For Charalambous, it’s very clear what’s at fault for the accident: the aircraft’s design (the confusion between the alarms for takeoff configuration errors and decompression problems), but also Helios’ failure to update its flight manual despite being advised by Boeing to do so.
“The defendants are on trial, but for the wrong reasons. I think that in the end they will be cleared, and that will be the end of it.”
And Charalambous reveals that several other Helios relatives share her frustration with the state’s handling of the case, even though might not admit so in public.
“Trust me, if we hadn’t shouted and screamed so much, there probably wouldn’t have been a trial at all,” she says.
“For example, had they charged the airline’s chief engineer – like they’ve done in Greece – that in turn would have implicated Civil Aviation and opened up a can of worms. Isn’t it odd that the engineer hasn’t been charged here, or even been called to the stand?
“It’s details like these that make you believe that they just want to put this thing to bed,” she remarks.
“I think some folks here are really jittery about the trial in Greece,” she added.