Ghost plane | Why was this plane SILENT for hours before crashing? | Helios 522 

The thought of being that one person alone in a cockpit with no idea of what happened and how to land the plane sends chills up my spine... imagine being that person all alone while everyone is passed out and you can do nothing but wait until the plane crashes

Im old aircrew and now I understand why the airlines subjected us to hypoxia at least twice in my career. We needed to understand and recognise. It was scary as we thought we were ok when in fact, we struggled to do simple things. I love your channel. It's brilliant. Thank you.

The thought of, if that poor 25 year-old had been able to land the plane, every single person aboard besides him being reduced to a severely brain-damaged vegetable is honestly far more unsettling than the actual outcome. Imagine being the medical personnel in charge of removing them all from the plane.

God Bless that poor soul who had to witness his approaching demise alone😞😓😭

I remember this case from Mayday, it's my favorite episode from the series simply due to how unbelievable the whole incident is.

This one always gets me, the fact that if in some miracle the flight attendant had landed the plane, that all the passengers would have been inured beyond repair is not a thought I like to think of

All aviation accidents are a tragedy but the lessons learned from them save many others. RIP to all those onboard Helios 522.

The fighter jets seeing a mysterious man in the cockpit not noticing them or worse purposefully ignoring them is absolutely traumatizing, to top all off it slowly Dawned on the Jet pilots that this entire plane is gonna crash killing every person on it

This must be the third or fourth video of yours I have watched and they have all been very well made. I would not be surprised if your channel starts to grow very rapidly soon. All the best wishes for your channel.

I can't imagine the terror that last person felt. It seems like it would be better to be unconscious at that point if there's nothing you can do. I wonder if he took the oxygen mask off when he knew it was going down. I would've went to the back, buckled up and let myself pass out.

This crash has always haunted me. Your presentation is top-notch. I hope your channel grows!

This one is heartbreaking. Andreas is a way stronger person than me. Maybe he felt some obligation to at least try to save the plane because he had a pilot license and was a flight attendant. If I were in his position, I would have just let the hypoxia overtake me and just go down not knowing what was about to happen. I did read he managed to turn the plane away from Athens while it was in the air, which must have been why he pointed down after the plane banked left when the fighter jet pilot tried to get his attention. I believe he fully knew that the plane was going to crash and that he would rather it happen away from the city to keep the death toll from being even higher. If that's the case, he is a true hero.

Greek here, if you listen to the footage from the intercept you'll hear the controller of the F16s vector in a second pair on intercept course because the plane was heading into a residential area. Patriot batteries were also on standby. The intercepted got called off after the plane veered off into Grammatiko and final heading was confirmed. The footage from the second F16, which was behind and to the left of the plane has not been released.

Had a friends on this flight, a family of 4. Husband, wife and their two sons 17 and 12. They were going on holiday to celebrate the younger son was going to start high school come September. Also have acquaintances who were flight attendants that worked on this plane and reported multiple issues with the air conditioning, cabin pressure and other electrical problems that were consistently ignored. I remember the day this happened, the whole island was in such shock, we didn't know for hours what had happened, if it was another terrorist attack like 9/11 and if anyone had survived, there were false reports of shepherds in the area saving some passengers but obviously later in the day it was revealed that everyone had perished. The bodies were so burnt it took months to identify them via DNA analysis volunteered by surviving family members.

I was in Cyprus at the time this happened. This was utterly traumatising for everybody on the island.

Your videos are truly exceptional, because it’s concise, and very well researched. It’s not like most other air crash videos - sensational, longwinded, overly dramatic and overly technical. You really have created the best possible air crash analysis videos!!

Having seen I do believe every aviation video and program covering this crash, I held off on watching this one because I was rather certain that there was nothing left for me to learn. I was wrong. Superb job!

It's very stupid for an airplane to sound a warning but not clearly indicate what it is warning about.

The only story so far to shake me this much at the thought of it. Hearing the moment they went dark i tied it to oxygen related. Cant imagine the stress of the one guy as well. Sounded like the maintenance guy over comms as well realized exactly what was happening just before the plane went silent and barely missed the chance to tell them to switch it to auto

These videos are so addictive. Nicely explained in a very calming voice. I love them. A very well done job. 👏👏

This was as chilling as it was interesting. Well done!

I've heard the story of Helios 522 before but I was glad to listen to it again here, and it was really well told like all of your videos

Wow these videos are so well made, sad about the crash but the fact that switches and dials can cause so much loss

Excellent re-creation!

What's scary about this to me as I used to visit family in Cyprus most summers and flew with Helios many times, they only ever owned 3 aircraft and it's very likely that I have at some point been in this very aircraft, my grandmother had flew with Helios from Larnaca to Athens a week prior on this very aircraft. It's the closest I have ever been to a disaster like this.

This is a tragic story. Well presented sir.

Again, great job!

Great review of this tragedy! And with interesting parts of the story I never heard before. Thanks

Excellent video. I was not familiar with this incident. Very haunting, in that the tragedy could have so easily been averted. Especially considering, as the author says, dozens of similar situations occurred in the industry before this crash forced them to address the problem. Somehow, the more preventable the accident, the sadder it feels.

Extremely good videos. You're gonna be huge

This crash is quite a famous crash and I had seen it in 2 RU-vid channels.. but I liked the way you coaxed or dragged me into watching the video by using a title is ghosts in control ... That was epic 🔥🔥.A subscriber just for the title mate good luck ...

I love your videos, narration and accent :D!

Thank you for sharing please I’d love to see more videos like these

That poor Engineer. Jeez.

Great video!

This crash happened in 2005, but following 9/11 it was mandated (around 2003) that all aircraft should have reinforced and lockable cockpit doors. So how did a cabin crew member gain access to the cockpit? Or did this mandate not apply to Helios at the time?

Well I’ve watched all your vids now, more please 😆

This one always hits me so hard.. RIP to all people on board.

For some reason this video brought me to tears.

Manual press mode is not off as you say. Manual is manual and can control press by crew positioning the outflow valve. Aircraft crashed a bit to the north of my home. A sad day.

11:15 This is probably why, despite the conditions for a ghost flight accident existing for decades, this sort of thing was a rare occurence. Pre-9/11 Flight Attendents could have easily alerted the pilots to the situation in the cabin

I watch you nearly every time now that I have found this channel I think Monday

This accident is a bit crushing as, if that lone aircrew member had had another half hour or an hour, at least it would be a fighting chance. I've been "popped" when I was doing my SCUBA training and it is very disturbing and scary when you think it can happen in a danger situation.

I love your vids man

my neighbours were on that flight. nice people, beautiful couple. Also keep in mind that the plane, landed smoothly by the efforts of Andreas Prodromou on the hill but crashed uncontrolably on the next hill. One of the F16 pilots contacted Andreas father, reassurred him that they did not took down the plane, and that he must be proud of his son, who did everything he could to save the plane knowing how little his chances were.

A common theme for a majority of these videos is gross negligence and lack of oversight

Good retelling …. Just found you.. have subbed

The story of this flight remains the most sorrowful aviation story I've ever heard. Andreas was fighting for hours against his own mind under hypoxia, yet he still managed to maneuver the aircraft away from densely populated areas before the crash. If he had more time - if he reached the cockpit sooner... He was a flight attendant on the path to becoming a big jet pilot. I'm certain that if circumstances had given him just slightly more opportunity he would have saved the aircraft, and perhaps many or all onboard.

I remember watching the MayDay episode of this disaster. What a surreal event

One of the saddest. The lonely man in the cockpit. Checklists are there for a reason.

I was only 9 years old when this happened but I remember how big topic this was then on television and in the news, of course I was still young enough to understand the seriousness of the incident but especially as an adult it is scary how such smalls oversights can cause such tragedies

This is bad. One of the worse accidents, IMHO. Someone trapped on a Flying Dutchman, knowing they were doomed. And after all hope had been given up, takes that extra effort to make sure that no other lives were lost by ditching the plane in uninhabited territory. Empathy and horror run deep on this one.

Wow! A ghost plane indeed.

This is a crazy story

This one is truly sad. Cant even imagine the stress levels poor Andreas felt.

Wild that it took until 2005 for something like this to happen. And it's good the only other times it has happened, both previous to this incident, and after, have been on smaller jets. Definitely seems like something that should have been sorted out in the decades prior though.

i remember watching this on Aircrash investigations, good to know the name of the guy who flew it after all these years

That poor lonely soul

My dad had recently retired from being in the air force as an ATC and he told me that the flight should have been shot down over the sea long before it ever reached Athens but the ministry of interior hesitated to shot the aircraft down in fear of the backlash from the public

Great videos! Been binge watching a few the past couple hours. Maybe I missed in the video, but was there no oxygen sensor inside the cockpit to warn of lowering oxygen levels? Basically the first warning well before the masks will drop?

My auntie flew on this plane from Heathrow. She said that they froze on that trip. I don't know if that is related to this tragedy.

All your videos need at least 5M views each.

So basically Boeing has been having quality control issues for a very long time

That's sad, the weight on that dudes shoulders must've been so heavy

Just always and religiously check that list called 'CHECKLIST'. You will not regret it.

Pilot error, basically...

As a diver, I've experienced nitrogen narcosis... A sense of euphoria can get you into serious trouble.

Subbed 👏 👍

I think your model showed the wrong cabin pressure panel. 3 Greens mentioned that they had used the same setup you use too in an earlier video, but when re recording they had discovered that the actual accident plane used a digital panel that looks differently... e.g. it has only three settings and not 5 or 6 like this selection knob...

I find it strange that all that's recommended by crash investigators is tame. A simple reliable fix would be that if the cabin pressure control is NOT set to auto, then the plane should be prevented from climbing above 10,000ft.

That's so sad the one guy used 3 oxygen bottles staying alive and he must've broken the door down because those doors are solid and always locked aren't they to prevent terrorism

Creepy and disturbing

I think he learnt based on his recent videos that people dont like to know whether or not it crashed until the end. Telling me at the start just puts me off

In 2005, a 1GB USB stick would cost about 100 bucks which would have let you store about 100 hours of voice record. But this black box was at the very end with 30 minutes.

If he was a pilot, knew that everyone was passed out, AND had an O2 bottle, why in the heck didn't he push the yoke forward and take it down to 10,000'?

How come there’s a manual setting for the pressurization?

What a crazy story, that gentleman was a real warrior. He almost made it

The fact that the crew incorrectly identified the warning horn is unforgivable. That horn can only have 1 meaning inflight and every crew member should be very much aware of this.

Great videos but I would appreciate if you could talk a lil bit louder

Clearly those 2 alarm tones shouldn't be the same

This happened in my home city and most people this very well

"the person in the captain's seat responded with a hand motion" and "the F16 pilot responded with a hand signal to follow him on down to the airport" and "the person in the captain's seat pointed downwards" (i think to show his intent which was to try to land the plane) but he did NOT follow the F16. Either he didn't understand the F16 pilot's hand signal to follow or he couldn't navigate the plane to follow him. I wonder which one it was.

Tonight I’m posting my Helios 522 video but when the captain repeated his question about the circuit breakers to the mechanic that’s a sign of hypoxia setting in

0:55 my guess is a loss of pressure in the cabin and everyone passed out

I remember when this happened.

Why there is no display with clear description of active warnings?

Manual should be set with a key and warning strip. Like a manual override setting. Then it will remain on auto for the flight.

3:15 they did not listen huhu

14:23 post-investigation safety recommendations

How is the plane even able to fly with such important settings turned off? Shouldn't there be some sort of automatic check that disables the airplane if such vital settings aren't active?

i'm more so suprised about the fact that the autopilot managed to get all the way to athens by itself

I think the most surprising part of this is that the pressurization set to manual doesn’t cause a takeoff configuration warning

wow

I did my ground school with the Captains son. A lovely guy but, well he was a bit maverick, super bright, missed lessons, didn't study that hard and walked through every exam getting good marks. They said he was just like his dad. Being super bright can be dangerous in the cockpit. The Captain was probable a really capable pilot but the records show, F/O's didn't like flying with him. You can be the best pilot in the world but without oxygen you are nothing. The ground engineer nearly saved his life but he didn't listen. Hubris ran deep. As for the valiant attempt by the steward, he was a button press away from possible surviving. He just either forgot to press the button or more likely pressed the wrong button. Flight sim was still new back then, now any kid doing his CPL will have flown a 737 or similar at home and would know how to find ALT and dial in 10'000ft. I really feel for him, if he had managed to contact ATC they could have got him to the runway and a possible autoland. One further point. When I was cabin crew in England, after a decompression, it was grab a mask and sit down. (on a passengers lap if necessary.) When it was safe to do so, go monkey fashion, swinging from mask to mask until you reached crew portable oxygen. Once on portable, check your colleagues down the back and make sure the pilots are OK. You should know they were OK as you would feel the aircraft roll right and start a rapid decent. Next time you travel on a plane. Give the crew some respect, some of them are pilots too and even if they aren't, they are fire fighters, medics, councillors and anything else that flight throws at them.

Music at 0:51?

Why on earth are there two settings for cabin pressure? Close the doors, ...pressurise....Job done.

Imagine if Podromou managed to land the plane. He & his girlfriend would probably come down the slides yet the passengers, pilots & remaining flight attendants would probably still be dead...

I know this is older, but the fighter in the thumbnail is an F-14 and the ones in the event were F-16s.

Rename it to Helium Lack-of-Airlines. Bad joke, but so was the overlook of the manual pressurization three times. So sad.

Is there a reason that pilots aren’t required to wear Sp02 monitors?