Greece

The crew left Volos-Néa Anchialos Airport in the morning on a firefighting mission over Beotia. En route, the left engine caught fire and the crew decided to attempt an emergency landing. The aircraft crashed in flames in a wooded area located in Dervenochoria and was destroyed by a post impact fire. Both crew members escaped with minor injuries.

Flight SHE 102/3 of 12 February 2009 was a scheduled passenger carrying flight performing the route Heraklion – Rhodes – Heraklion. The crew that was going to perform the flight reported for duty at 16:00 h. The aircraft had earlier on the same day performed, with a different flight crew, four routes (Heraklion – Rhodes – Heraklion and Heraklion – Samos – Heraklion), without any problems being reported. Nothing had been observed during the pre-flight check. The aircraft departed Heraklion at 16:55 h and landed at Rhodes at 17:35 h without incident. At 18:30 h the aircraft departed Rhodes for Heraklion, carrying three crew members and 15 passengers. The pilot flying (PF) this particular sector was the Pilot in Command (PIC). At a distance of 30 nm from Heraklion and at a altitude of 7700 ft on its descent to 3000 ft, the crew informed the Air Traffic Control that it had the runway in sight and requested and was granted clearance to perform a visual approach. The aircraft, fully configured for landing from a distance of 7nm, approached the airport for landing at runway 27. The wind information provided by the Air Traffic Control was 18 kt – 25 kt, from 210°. While approaching the runway, the PF asked the First Officer (FO) to check the angle of descent based on the APAPIs’ of the runway. The FO confirmed the correct angle of descent, saying “one white, one red”. The aircraft crossed the threshold with a speed of 112 kt and after flaring the PF reduced speed to Flight Idle and touched down with a speed of 86 kt. As the speed was being gradually reduced, the PF had difficulty with controlling the aircraft along its longitudinal axis and noticing that the aircraft was leaning somewhat to the right, reported to the FO that “the gear has broken”. Immediately afterwards, the blades of the right propeller of the aircraft struck the runway. As the aircraft continued to move with the left main landing gear wheel operating normally and the collapsed right main landing gear, folded backwards under the wing, being dragged along the runway, the crew stopped the engines, reported to the Airport Control Tower that the right landing gear had broken and requested evacuation. The aircraft stopped in the runway with its nose wheel at 4.6 m to the right of the center line, at a distance of 930 m from the point of the propeller’s first contact with the runway. Immediately afterwards the PF ordered the cabin crew to open the cabin door and evacuated the aircraft, and the FO, who observed some fuel leaking from the right engine, switched off the electrical systems and requested through the Airport Control Tower that the fire trucks, which were on their way, to throw foam on the right wing to prevent any fire being started. The passengers disembarked from the left aft door without any problems with the assistance of the cabin crew, while the fire trucks covered the right wing with foam as a preventive measure. The airport, applying the standing procedures, removed the aircraft and released the runway for operation at 22:30 h. During the period of time that runway 09/27 remained out of operation, two flights approaching the airport for landing were diverted to Chania Airport, and the departures of another three flights were delayed.

The crew was completing a fire fighting mission in the region of Diliso, on the Evia Island, with four other water bomber and two helicopters. While approaching the zone under fire, the aircraft struck the ground and crashed, killing both occupants.

The aircraft was taking part to a fire fighting mission on the Tzia Island. While returning to scope in the Saronic Gulf, the aircraft struck a wave and came to rest off the Patroklos Island. Both pilots were rescued by the crew of a Super Puma helicopter from the Greek Navy while the aircraft was recovered but damaged beyond repair.

On 14 August 2005, a Boeing 737-300 aircraft, registration number 5B-DBY, operated by Helios Airways, departed Larnaca, Cyprus at 06:07 h for Prague, Czech Republic, via Athens, Hellas. The aircraft was cleared to climb to FL340 and to proceed direct to RDS VOR. 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. Several communications between the Captain and the Operations Centre took place in the next eight minutes concerning the above problems and ended as the aircraft climbed through 28 900 ft. Thereafter, there was no response to radio calls to the aircraft. During the climb, at an aircraft altitude of 18 200 ft, the passenger oxygen masks deployed in the cabin. The aircraft leveled off at FL340 and continued on its programmed route. At 07:21 h, the aircraft flew over the KEA VOR, then over the Athens International Airport, and subsequently entered the KEA VOR holding pattern at 07:38 h. At 08:24 h, during the sixth holding pattern, the Boeing 737 was intercepted by two F-16 aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force. One of the F-16 pilots observed the aircraft at close range and reported at 08:32 h that the Captain’s seat was vacant, the First Officer’s seat was occupied by someone who
2 was slumped over the controls, the passenger oxygen masks were seen dangling and three motionless passengers were seen seated wearing oxygen masks in the cabin. No external damage or fire was noted and the aircraft was not responding to radio calls. At 08:49 h, he reported a person not wearing an oxygen mask entering the cockpit and occupying the Captain’s seat. The F-16 pilot tried to attract his attention without success. At 08:50 h, the left engine flamed out due to fuel depletion and the aircraft started descending. At 08:54 h, two MAYDAY messages were recorded on the CVR. At 09:00 h, the right engine also flamed out at an altitude of approximately 7 100 ft. The aircraft continued descending rapidly and impacted hilly terrain at 09:03 h in the vicinity of Grammatiko village, Hellas, approximately 33 km northwest of the Athens International Airport. The 115 passengers and 6 crew members on board were fatally injured. The aircraft
was destroyed.

The aircraft suffered a double engine failure and the pilot attempted to ditch the aircraft off Rhodes. All occupants were rescued while the aircraft sank and was lost.

The crew departed Volos-Nea Anchialos Airport on a fire fighting mission over Mt Pelion, about 10 km northeast of Volos. While flying at low height, the crew was preparing to drop water when the right wing struck the ground. The aircraft crashed and exploded, killing both pilots.

Originally, flight MA262 from Budapest to Thessaloniki should be performed by a Boeing 737-300 HA-LES but due to technical problems, a Tupolev TU-154B-2 was dispatched. Following an uneventful flight, the crew was cleared for a VOR/DME approach to runway 34 followed by a visual circle to land on runway 28 as the runway 34 was closed to traffic due to construction works. Because a Boeing 757 slowed to vacate the runway after landing, ATC instructed the crew to extend the downwind leg for runway 28. For unknown reasons, the crew failed to comply with this instructions and performed 'S'. On final approach, the tower controller informed the crew that he forgot to lower the undercarriage. The captain increased engine power and initiated a go-around procedure but this decision was too late. The aircraft continued to descend and struck the runway surface in a gear-up configuration at 1657LT. The aircraft suffered substantial damages but the crew managed to go-around and to follow a holding pattern. A safe landing was completed at 1715LT. All 94 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On final approach to Rhodes-Diagoras Airport, while on a cargo flight from Athens, both engines failed simultaneously. The aircraft stalled and crashed in the sea one km short of runway. Both pilots were rescued while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Following an uneventful flight from Dubai, the crew completed the approach to Rhodes-Diagoras Airport in rain falls and strong winds. The aircraft landed at a speed of 166 knots, about 22 knots above Vref. After touchdown, the ground spoilers did not deploy automatically because they had not been armed. Consequently the auto brake system, which operates by the deployment of spoilers, did not activate. The crew attempted manual braking but this operation was too late and the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance. It overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest few dozen metres further. All 271 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.