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Doomed plane ran out of fuel
16/08/2005 16:51 - (SA)
Athens - A Cypriot airliner that crashed near Athens on Sunday, almost two hours after most of the people on board were presumed either dead from asphyxiation or unconscious, probably went down because it ran out of fuel while on autopilot, a senior Greek government official said on Tuesday.
"We surmise that the plane... ran out of fuel," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
All 121 people aboard the aircraft died in the accident, which is believed to have occurred because of a disastrous air supply failure almost two hours before it smashed into a mountain near the Greek capital.
Earlier on Tuesday officials said that the body of a stewardess was found near the remains of the cockpit, suggesting that she may have tried to grasp the plane's controls in a desperate bid to avert tragedy.
Autopsies on the first 25 of the bodies of the 121 passengers and crew show they were all alive - although not necessarily conscious - when it ploughed into a hillside near Athens, coroner Philippos Koutsaftis told AFP.
Information from Cyprus, where the plane originated, suggests that in addition to the two pilots, one other crew member had flying experience from small aircraft, the official said, without identifying the individual.
The Cypriot co-pilot's body was also recovered in the same area, though not that of the German pilot. Plans to shoot down plane
Also on Tuesday, the government denied reports that it had at one point considered having the rogue plane shot down to prevent it from crashing into a populated area.
The Eleftherotypia newspaper had earlier quoted a senior government official saying: "Five more minutes and we would have eliminated it."
The Greek prime minister's office said that government spokesperson Theodore Roussopoulos had already stressed the government's response was according to international conventions.
Roussopoulos on Sunday said that the plane had been 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 told AFP that "the question never arose".
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