Did you know how Helios Flight 522 was labeled the ghost plane? You heard it right. A literal ghost plane with pilot, crew, and passengers all lifeless inside the plane that's been flying above the surface for about three hours.
August 14, 2005, was when the plane Boeng 737 arrived at Lanarca, Cyprus Airport all the way from London. Upon the plane's arrival, the crew immediately reported a frozen door seal that creates abnormal noises hence why they asked a full inspection from the ground engineer. The ground engineer quickly fixed the door, and since they've been there for inspection, they also included checking if there's leak in the pressurization system. The pressurization system is responsible for controlling the cabin pressure and the exchange of oxygen from inside to outside. The pressurization system should always be set in automatic mode so when the plane takes off and reach the high altitude, it will just function automatically. However, the ground engineer assigned set the system to manual and when they finally finished inspecting the plane, they forgot to set the system back to auto, which is obviously the entire cause of the accident.
The plane was set to land in Prague Czech Republic operated by the flight's captain name Hans-Jürgen Merten, a German contract pilot hired by Helios for holiday flights. The cabin crew then prepared for take-off after checking the plane's equipment, not realizing the pressurization system was still in manual. The passengers on-board were 115 together with 5 flight attendants. After few minutes, the plane finally took off in a really pleasant weather. However when the plane flew 3000 feet reaching the cruising altitude, the alarm suddenly sound followed by the master caution alarm leaving pilots and crew in confusion. Emergency masks were also triggered causing anxiety to the passengers. The ground engineers then lost contact with the pilot as they have already lost consciousness so as all the passengers on-board. The plane was in Athens Greece flying in auto-pilot in a circular motion. When the air traffic control of Greece notice the plane flying in the surface for 2 hours, they immediately sent 2 jet fighters, worried that the plane was being hijacked . When the jet flew beside the plane, they were surprised that everyone on-board were unconscious with oxygen masks on.
The plane then runs out of fuel leading its crash against the mountain. Fire and rescue workers immediately head to the crash site but unfortunately, there was no single survivor left. After a thorough investigation, the ground engineers who checked the pressurization system were sued due to their negligence of duty.
As we can see, accidents might really happen anytime and anywhere. So it's important to always pray wherever we go because death is much sweeter when timely and in peace. Have a safe night folks!
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