Breaking News: Plane Down, Athens

A plane has gone down near Athens, Greece carrying 115 passangers and 6 crew members. There are reports that the cabin where the pilots were lost air pressure, and at least one fell unconscious. It has not been determined whether this was a terrorist attack or not.

The Helios Airways flight HCY 522 was headed from Larnaca, Cyprus to Athens International Airport when it crashed at about 12:20 p.m. near the coastal town of Grammatikos, about 25 miles north of the Greek capital. [read the whole story]

The Greek AF scrambled 2 jets after losing contact with the plane. The residence near the crash are trying to look for survivors but so far there are none.

Sotiris Voutas, the first cousin of a passenger on the plane, said he received a text message from his relative on his mobile phone minutes before the crash.

"He told me the pilots were unconscious ... he said: 'My cousin I bid you farewell, we are all frozen'."

The AF pilots saw no movement in the cabin before the plane went down. Fortunately, the plane went down 437 yards (400 meters) from any homes.

Hat tip to KABC 790am news and AP.org

Cross posted at Knickerbocker News.