Investigation reveals Greek Helios crash was ‘waiting to happen’

[Paul]

The August 2005 Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 crash, which happened after the aircraft failed to pressurise, was an accident waiting to happen because of multiple systemic faults, says the chief investigator into the accident.

The investigation has found that “latent errors have lain there for years waiting for the pilot to pull the triggerâ€￾, Capt Akrivos Tsolakis, head of the Hellenic Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board (AAIASB) told the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) European Regions Airline Association European Aviation Safety Seminar in Athens, Greece last week.

Tsolakis made it clear that all the parties involved in the accident made some contribution to the systemic latent faults that created “a window of opportunityâ€￾ for the errors made by the pilots. He did not specify those faults, or those responsible for them.

The main parties involved are the airline, the Cyprus Civil Aviation Authority and the aircraft manufacturer, Tsolakis confirmed.

Flight Global

 

[PRINCESS KIDAGAKASH]

Let's see here. The Captain and First officer failed to check the settings of the pressurization controls before they took off and it's the mechanic's fault? What a bunch of B.S.! The crash happened because two incompetant idiots were at the controls of the plane! Capt.Tsolarkis is an idiot also!

 

[RDU Jetblast]

Gotta share the love.

Reminds me of when a coworker had a 757 capt's. window open while riding brakes. He closed the window but didn't latch it. Crew came in, did the check list and on rotation, the window rolled wide open creating a "tornadic environment" and forced an emergency landing. The pilot blamed it on the mechanic who rode the brakes in his report and the mechanic replied by photocopying the predeparture checklist with the part that says to check that cockpit windows are closed and latched hi-lited. Case closed.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

.When the audible cabin altitude alert sounded, the crew thought it was an erroneous configuration warning because the sound is identical, and their subsequent mindset and actions were determined by this preconception until hypoxia overcame them as the aircraft continued to climb....

After I mentioned this story to a 737 pilot for a US carrier, he told me had once been puzzled by this warning on climb-out. It took him and the F/O a bit of time figure out the source; neither was aware that the same warning tone served two unrelated purposes. After fixing the pressuriztion problem, they agreed how badly the warning system was designed. "What were they thinking in Seattle that day" was his remark.

 

[PRINCESS KIDAGAKASH]

.When the audible cabin altitude alert sounded, the crew thought it was an erroneous configuration warning because the sound is identical, and their subsequent mindset and actions were determined by this preconception until hypoxia overcame them as the aircraft continued to climb....

After I mentioned this story to a 737 pilot for a US carrier, he told me had once been puzzled by this warning on climb-out. It took him and the F/O a bit of time figure out the source; neither was aware that the same warning tone served two unrelated purposes. After fixing the pressuriztion problem, they agreed how badly the warning system was designed. "What were they thinking in Seattle that day" was his remark.

All the warning tones in the world can't protect from stupidity. Is that hard to set and keep an eye on the pressurization controls? If the pilot's can't do their jobs like they are supposed too, maybe a fully automated flight deck with no humans is the way to go.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

All the warning tones in the world can't protect from stupidity. Is that hard to set and keep an eye on the pressurization controls? If the pilot's can't do their jobs like they are supposed too, maybe a fully automated flight deck with no humans is the way to go.

My point was that, even at a major US carrier, pilot training had not included the dual functions of the alarm. They did figure it out, but would probably have done so faster had they known about it.

As far as the fully automated flight deck goes, I am reminded of the old joke "Welcome aboar the first fully automated flight across the Atlantic...Atlantic...Atlantic...Atlantic..." I guess that joke might lost on the post-vinyl record generation.