AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS: The Crash of Helios Airways Flight 522

On 14 August 2005, a Boeing 737-300 aircraft departed from Larnaca, Cyprus, for Prague. As the aircraft climbed through 16.000 ft, the Captain contacted the company Operations Centre and reported a Take-off Configuration Warning and an Equipment Cooling System problem. Thereafter, there was no response to radio calls to the aircraft. At 07:21 h, the aircraft was intercepted by two F-16 aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force. They observed the aircraft and reported no external damage. The aircraft continued descending and crashed approximately 33 km northwest of the Athens International Airport. All 121 people on board were killed.