Two 'tried to fly doomed plane'
2005-08-14 20:54
Athens - Two people tried to take the controls of the Cypriot Boeing 737 passenger jet before it crashed near Athens on Sunday killing all 121 people on board, a Greek government spokesperson said.
Pilots of two Greek air force F16 fighters that were scrambled to investigate after the doomed aircraft lost contact saw the two people trying to assume control in the cockpit during the final approach, Theodore Roussopoulos said.
"They saw two people in the cockpit, we don't know if they were crew members or passengers, appearing to want to take over the controls," he said after a government meeting called to discuss the accident.
The two pilots had initially seen "the co-pilot slumped over and perhaps unconscious and the pilot not in his seat", he said.
They had also reported that oxygen masks were "activated" in the cabin, he said.
The plane crashed in woodland on a hillside at Varnava, about 40km northeast of the Greek capital.
- AFP