Helios Flight 522: How a Single Switch Killed 121 Passengers

Hello all, I did my very best to ensure that this story was told in a respectful and accurate way, and you can find all sources in a public post over on my Patreon: bit.ly/39RFEqd. That said, I’m not a pilot, and I don’t speak Greek, so I’ve relied on people to translate technical info/a whole other language. If anything doesn’t seem quite right, let me know, and I can always add any major corrections here. I'd be interested to hear your theories on Andreas - I know that this is a horrific situation to be in, and we will never, EVER know what he was dealing with up there, but for the life of me I still can't understand why he didn't enter the cockpit until the last moments given that he a) had oxygen, b) had the access code? The ONLY thing I can imagine is that he somehow incapacitated himself but even still, one of the oxygen canisters wasn't used so it just doesn't make sense to me.

I feel bad for the F-16 pilot who witnessed the crash. From the recording, you can tell how horrified he is.

The fighter pilot’s voice crack made me cry, I can’t imagine having to watch this slowly unfold while you’re helpless from another plane

As a pilot I can say there is no excuse for what happened. They should have already known that a cabin pressurization test had been performed, so verifying that the pressurization switch was in the auto mode should have been a no brainer. Secondly, as soon as the alarm sounded, they should have not made assumptions as to what caused the alarm, but realized what the actual reason for the alarm was. As for the maintenance person that performed the pressurization test, he should have returned it to the auto mode. If the pilots had performed a proper preflight check this never would have happened.

I'm Greek and when this happened the entire country froze in horror. Andreas is a hero in our hearts and will always be. May they all rest in peace. I just hope no one suffered.

That flight attendant was a hero. He fought through barely being conscious and tried his best to save everyone. Unfortunately heroes don’t always succeed RIP flight 522

I will never complain about a flight being late for take-off ever again. It's moments like these when you really have to respect the care and attention that your pilots give before, during, and after your flight.

Shout out to Andreas who even when suffering from Hypoxia and barely conscious still tried to save everyone. And that poor pilot, who’s voice cracked made me cry

It may be apparent to some - but likely not all who don't speak Greek. The fighter pilot calling out the mayday and describing the last moments before impact was most definitely crying and trying to hold back tears. He was fumbling just ever so slightly in his wording of what was going on. Poor guy, he really really was distraught.

It’s astounding how many chances the pilots had to fix this error before it became fatal, and failed to each time

There is something oddly terrifying (in a sci-fi horror / psychological thriller kind of way) thinking about an airplane flying itself for so long while everyone inside is dead. It's just it's a strange feeling to think about.

Andreas is the most heroic figure in this story. He may not have succeeded in saving everyone, but the strength and bravery to lift himself up when he must have been getting weaker and more disoriented by the moment and still try is far from nothing

The helpless terror of the F-16 pilots as they watched the disaster unfold was absolutely heartbreaking.

Those F-16 pilots WATCHED a passenger jet crash. What a heavy, heavy thing to witness. Also this channel is amazing, please keep making content.

Perhaps it was exactly the amount of experience they had that led to their demise. After hundreds of flights, complacency becomes the biggest danger of them all.

I was serving my military duty (which is mandatory in Greece) in 2005 and I was stationed at the airbase those F16s were scrambled from.I was on duty that day and remember even today the comotion during those tragic moments.When the pilots came back they were inside a room to debrief and provide information on what they had witnessed.they stayed there for hours.late at night me and a colleague brought food to the pilots and other hellenic air force officers in the room along wih some beverages.I ve only had a 2 second glimpse on the pilots before being pushed out of the room but that look they had and that eyes still haunt me today

God, I remember this. I live in Athens. I was home alone when this happened, a very scared teenager, who knew way too much about airplane crashes due to my father, a retired air force officer who had survived a horrific one. My area was right in the path of the plane. It was awful, not knowing if the plane was going to come down right on top of us. My parents, out of town, racing to come home in case of the worst. When they got home it was after the plane had crashed, just 10 klm away from where I live. My parents crushed me in a hug and my father was crying. He never cried like that. My father was very broken up about the whole thing. It took him a long time to get over it. He saw himself in Andreas and in the pilots and the passengers. It woke up painful memories for him. He became very invested in the accident and reached out to all contacts he had for information. I learned a lot about the early stages of the investigation through this grapevine of military folks. We met one of the F-16 pilots of that day by chance, years later. The accident came up in conversation. The poor guy was still affected, I can only imagine how horrified he must have been up there, watching it happen helplessly. I was very relieved to see that he was doing alright and had likely gotten some much-needed help. My heart went out to Andreas when I read about what he did. Some part of me is certain that he saved my life, my home, and those of other people living in my area. We were right in the original path of the plane. If he hadn't been there, the plane might have slammed right into our mountainside. Who knows how many more could have died. Thank you for covering this so seriously and somberly. Thank you for not turning it into a sensationalist piece. Your work is incredible.

Poor Andreas! He joined the crew the last minute and was the last to be conscious. While everyone else was spared the minutes before the crash, he was witness to the entire horror.

I just started crying when the F-16 pilot voice cracked ...and Andrea's trying to save, either the plane or choosing a safe crash site so no more ppl would be hurt. I live In Cyprus and was a teenager when this happened...it was and still is an awful tragedy

I cried when they showed photos of the victims. My wife's dad died in a plane crash years ago. She hasn't been the same since. This kind of tragedy destroys more lives than those taken on the flight.