A TUI Boeing 737 flight carrying nearly 200 passengers narrowly avoided a catastrophic oxygen deprivation incident over London last October due to a series of maintenance failures and missed warning signals. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch report details the critical errors and highlights the need for improved safety protocols within the aviation industry.
On August 14, 2005, Helios Airways Flight 522 crashed into a hill near Grammatiko, Greece, killing all 121 passengers and crew onboard. The Boeing 737-300 was flying from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Prague, Czech Republic, with a layover in Athens, Greece. The aircraft lost cabin pressure shortly after takeoff due to a pressurization failure, causing the pilots and passengers to lose consciousness. The plane flew on autopilot for several hours before crashing into the mountains. Investigators uncovered a series of systemic failures at Helios Airways leading up to the crash, including issues with the aircraft’s environmental control system and a failure to properly set the pressurization mode. The crash led to changes in aviation regulations to improve safety and prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
