Copilot Kept Journal Of 737's, Airline's Issues

A diary kept by one of the pilots of the Helios Airways B737 that crashed following a freak cabin depressurization two weeks ago outside Athens, Greece was found at the scene last week. According to news reports, the find is expected to shed new light into one of the most mysterious aviation crashes on record.
 
Pambos Charalambous was co-pilot on the doomed airliner that crashed on August 13, claiming all 121 lives aboard. He apparently kept a personal journal in which he wrote about his concerns with technical problems with the aircraft involved, as well as issues with Helios as a company.
 
"My father kept a diary in which he logged every one of that plane's and [the] airline's problems," said Charalambous's son Yiannis at his father's funeral last week. "He once told me that if any of it ever got out the company would close." 
 
The diary was found among the wreckage soon thereafter. Once it was discovered, accident investigators flew in Charalambous's widow from Cyprus to confirm that the diary was her husband's, sources told the Greek newspaper Kathimerini. It was then passed to head of the investigation team, Akrivos Tsolakis, who is scheduled to arrive in Cyprus Monday to interview officials and Helios airline staff.
 
Helios had initially maintained that the aircraft had suffered no other incidents and was fully airworthy at the time of the accident. It was later revealed, however, that the B737 that crashed had experienced cabin depressurization issues before.

Reaction to the Helios crash -- one of five that occurred worldwide in August -- has been swift throughout Europe. The government of the European Union has stepped up its call, first issued last year, for each member-state to submit a list of banned air carriers in their countries. England has already posted a list online, and France and Belgium are expected to do so this week.

FMI: www.flyhelios.com, www.europa.eu.int/index_en.htm