The 24 deadly seconds of the Sept. 14, 1999, Dassault Falcon 900 in-flight upset are under scrutiny by the Athens First Degree Court. The trial, which started May 13, was expected to last several days and was still ongoing at press time. The court has been asked to decide if the accident was due to pilot error, a technical malfunction or a combination of the two. The accident led to the death of seven passengers, including Greece’s foreign affairs deputy minister, Giannos Kranidiotis.
The surprising event at the trial was that the two pilots, Ioannis Androulakis and Gregory Sinekoglou, seem to be cleared of the heavy responsibility attributed to them in a report prepared by investigators Alexander Fischer and Akrivos Tsolakis. That report notes the initial sudden loss of altitude at 15,000 ft was “of minor importance and could be handled,” but pilot responses resulted in a fatal situation. Further, it speaks of pilot error in the captain’s attempt to level the aircraft after the unexpected descent, which resulted in sudden ascents and descents.
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