- Title: CYPRUS: FUNERAL TAKES PLACE FOR CO-PILOT OF CRASHED CYPRIOT AIRLINER.
- Date: 18th August 2005
- Summary: (W3) NICOSIA, CYPRUS (AUGUST 17 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/GV/PAN: CHURCH WITH PEOPLE ENTERING FOR FUNERAL; PEOPLE COMING INTO CHURCH WEARING BLACK (2 SHOTS) 0.21 2. TV/TILT UP: INTERIOR OF CHURCH WITH HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE GATHERED FOR FUNERAL 0.32 3. GV/TV/CU: COFFIN IN CHURCH WITH PHOTOGRAPH OF PAMBOS CHARALAMBOUS, THE HELIOS CO-PILOT, ON TOP; VIEW OF PAMBOS' WIFE (3 SHOTS) 0.52 4. GV: VIEW OF COFFIN WITH PRIESTS AND MOURNERS AROUND 1.00 5. MV: CYPRIOT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ATTENDING FUNERAL 1.04 6. MCU: RELATIVES CROSSES HERSELF HOLDING CANDLE 1.08 7. MV/CU: DAUGHTER OF PAMBOS HUGGING HER MOTHER; MOTHER OF PAMBOS CRYING; PHOTOGRAPH OF PAMBOS IN PILOTS SUIT WITH CANDLE NEXT (3 SHOTS) 1.33 8. (SOUNDBITE)(GREEK) SON OF PAMBOS, YiANNOS WEEPING AND SAYING, "But know this, father, we will make you proud -- I, my brothers and my mother will make you proud" 2.27 9. GV/PAN: PEOPLE PASSING FAMILY AND EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES TO FAMILY SHAKING THEIR HANDS 2.43 10. MVGV/PAN: COFFIN EXITING WITH WIFE IN FRONT HOLDING PHOTOGRAPH OF HUSBAND AND TOUCHING THE COFFIN IN GESTURE OF GOODBYE, CHURCH BELLS RINGING; COFFIN PASSES WITH MORUNERS (2 SHOTS) 3.15 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 2nd September 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NICOSIA, CYPRUS
- Country: Cyprus
- Reuters ID: LVA3ZEODOG4R8WL4D5WG2C0FQEA5
- Story Text: Cypriots bury their dead from a tragic airline crash
that claimed 121 lives, 104 of them Cypriot
Under the grizzling Cyprus sun, relatives of the
co-pilot of Helios Airways flight 522 that crashed on a
Greek mountainside followed him to his final resting place
on Wednesday (August 17).
Hundreds attended the funeral of 40 year-old Pambos
Charalambous, father of four children, buried in a cemetery
in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. Another two funerals
were expected on the same day as the island observed its
third day of mourning for the victims.
Distraught and shaken, Charalambous' son Yiannos said
in a eulogy to his father an injustice had been committed.
"An injustice has been committed against you and those
that have committed the injustice know who they are," he
said wracked with emotion.
"But know this, father, we will make you proud -- I, my
brothers and my mother will make you proud."
A photograph of Charalambous in his pilots uniform
stood on the coffin, and around the church dozens of
wreaths sent in condolence could be seen.
Entire families from Cyprus were lost in the plane
crash, some with as many as five members. Relatives were
flown in to identify the bodies but many were
unrecognizable and would have to be confirmed through DNA tests.
Charalambous was one of the mysteries of the puzzle to
the reasons for the disastrous crash, of which the cause is
still unknown. The Boeing 737 flight crashed 40 kilometres
north of Athens after leaving Cyprus.
The pilot had reported a fault with the plane's air
conditioning early in the flight, and the plane later lost
radio contact.
His son later told reporters that his father kept a diary of his
time flying with Helios which was in a leather
bag he always carried with him and that believed 'much
would be revealed' if he could get his hands on it.
The flight was declared "renegade" when it entered
Greek airspace and failed to make radio contact, prompting
two F-16 fighter jets to approach the plane. The pilots of
the F-16s reported the co-pilot - Charalambous, was slumped
over the controls in the cockpit. The pilot was not
visible, and oxygen masks were seen dangling.
Chief Investigative Coroner Philippos Koutsaftis, after
conducting autopsies on 26 victims including Charalambous
and two air stewardesses, said they were all alive at the
time of the plane's impact, but could have been unconscious
from loss of cabin pressure or the release of a toxic
substance.
Koutsaftis said the bodies of Charalambous and a
stewardess were found on the ground near the plane's
cockpit in the wreckage. The location gave weight to
speculation sparked by a local newspaper report that the
stewardess may have tried to fly the plane when the two
pilots became incapacitated.
The plane had left Larnaca airport heading to Prague
with a stop-over in Athens.
Kyriacos Pougrouris, a cousin of co-pilot Charalambous,
told Cyprus State Radio on Tuesday (August 16) his relative
was called with just two hour's notice to help fly the
doomed plane when the scheduled co-pilot was unavailable.
Pougrouris said his cousin had complained before the flight
of "problems" with the aircraft
The plane that crashed had suffered a loss of cabin
pressure before, Cyprus-based Helios Airways said on
Tuesday (August 16) but landed without incident.
The two black boxes have been recovered, but a Greek
official said the cockpit voice recorder was badly damaged
and might be of little use. They were being flown to France
for analysis.
Helios, Cyprus's first private carrier established in
1999, has also come under intense pressure for its safety
record with former passengers almost daily complaining to
the media of past scares including failure of air
conditioning and cabin pressure.
Cypriot police are going through the airlines
maintenance and other records in case the investigation of
the crash leads to criminal charges.
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