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'No thought' of shooting plane
16/08/2005 16:45 - (SA)
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| Relatives of the victims of the Cypriot Helios plane crash walk along the crash site in Grammatiko, Greece before a religious ceremony. (Petros Giannakouris, AP) |
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Athens - The Greek government on Tuesday denied press reports stating that it was close to shooting down a Cypriot Boeing 737 before it crashed near Athens killing all 121 people on board.
Eleftherotypia newspaper on Tuesday quoted a senior government official saying: "Five more minutes and we would have eliminated it."
Mystery surrounds what caused the Helios Airlines jet to plough into a hillside on Sunday after it emerged a flight attendant had been in the cockpit when it went down, possibly trying to gain control after the pilots were incapacitated.
The Greek Prime Minister's office on Tuesday said that government spokesperson Theodore Roussopoulos had already stressed the government's response was according to international conventions.
Plane out of control
Roussopoulos on Sunday said the plane was considered an out-of-control "confirmed renegade" that could be shot down if it threatened to crash into a populated area.
But he said the government had "no such thought" of shooting down the aircraft, while a defence ministry source said "the question never arose".
Roussopoulos's office declined to reveal details of the aircraft's trajectory just before it struck a mountainside, saying an investigation was under way.
After circling the island of Kea southeast of Athens, the plane flew northeast of the capital before crashing after midday. That was nearly half an hour after two F-16 fighter planes intercepted it and reported seeing two people in the cockpit trying to take control.
Most of the 121 victims were Greek Cypriots, making it the worst air disaster in the Mediterranean island's history.
- AFP
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