unreachable
The CotAcasT Ep. 20
Unreachable
Written by Brian Bermudez
In the world of aviation, there are moments of breathtaking beauty and moments of incredible danger. And then some moments defy explanation - incidents that leave us scratching our heads and wondering what really happened. This is the world of aviation mysteries, where unexplained disappearances, unsolved hijackings, and strange occurrences intrigue and mystify us. I take you on a journey through three compelling aviation mysteries in history. We'll explore the theories, examine the evidence, and hear from experts in the field surrounding Varig Flight 967, The Ghost Plane: Helios Airways Flight 522, and EygptAir Flight 990. Will these three mysteries ever be solved? And what do you think really caused these bone-chilling, real-life aviation nightmares?
Varig Flight 967
On April 30th, 1979, Varig Flight 967 disappeared without a trace while flying over the Pacific Ocean from Tokyo to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The disappearance of the Boeing 707 and the six crew on board remains a mystery. According to the official investigation, the aircraft ran out of fuel due to navigational errors, leading to a crash into the ocean. However, several theories challenge this conclusion. One theory suggests that the aircraft may have been hijacked. Aviation expert John Hansman explains, "It's not uncommon for aircraft to have been hijacked and taken off course, and the wreckage never found. In fact, it's happened a number of times."
Another theory is that an explosion caused the aircraft to disintegrate in mid-air. Former FBI agent Jim Kallstrom states, "If it blew up in the air, there would be debris somewhere, and there was never any debris found." The lack of debris has been a significant point of contention in the investigation. A massive search effort covering an area of 10,000 square miles was carried out, but no wreckage or debris was ever found. This has led some experts to question whether the aircraft actually crashed into the ocean. Aviation journalist Christine Negroni explains, "If this airplane had crashed in the water, it would have had to have crashed into a pretty small area not to be found. It doesn't make sense that it's not somewhere." Some experts have suggested that the search may have been conducted in the wrong area. The search was based on calculations of the aircraft's probable position, but these calculations were based on assumptions about the aircraft's speed and altitude that may not have been accurate.
With no distress message, wreckage, and crew found, conspiracy theorists explained why the aircraft had vanished. Before we get into possible reasons why the plane might have disappeared, it's worth pointing out that the flight’s captain was a highly experienced pilot. The 55-year-old Brazilian Captain Gilberto Araújo da Silva had over 23,000 flying hours and had survived a crash landing of a Boeing 707 utside Paris in 1973. Varig Flight 820 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris-Orly was inbound when a fire broke out in one of the plane's lavatories. Smoke quickly spread throughout the cabin and into the cockpit, and despite the flight crew wearing oxygen masks, they could not read the instruments. Declaring an emergency, Araújo da Silva decided to land the plane in an onion field to avoid crashing in a populated area. Sadly, most of the plane's 123 passengers had already died of smoke inhalation by then. Araújo da Silva and other crew members and one passenger sitting in the front of the aircraft survived. Despite the tremendous loss of life, Araújo da Silva was labeled a hero for not crashing into a built-up area.
The most interesting of the theories, though, was that there was a dismantled MiG-25 aircraft along with the paintings. A few years earlier, Soviet Air Force pilot Viktor Belenko made the headlines when he flew his top-secret Foxbat to Hakodate Airport (HKD) in Japan. At the time, the MiG-25 was the Soviet Union's most advanced aircraft and something the Americans wanted to get their hands on. Viktor Belenko was subsequently granted political asylum in the United States, but the Japanese were reluctant to hand over the plane, fearing reprisals from the Soviet Union. However, they allowed the Americans to do ground tests on the engines before dismantling the aircraft and packing it in crates to be shipped back to the Soviets. In November 1976, the dismantled plane was sent to Vladivostok aboard a Russian cargo ship. When they opened the crates, they discovered that around 20 aircraft components were missing. People speculated that these missing parts were aboard Varig Flight 967 and that the Soviet Union intercepted the Boeing 707 and forced it to land in Russia. All three of these theories seem highly unlikely.
In addition, there have been concerns about the aircraft's maintenance history. The aircraft had undergone maintenance before the flight, and there were rumors of problems with the aircraft's fuel system. However, there is no concrete evidence to support these rumors. The disappearance of Varig Flight 967 remains a haunting aviation mystery, and the search for answers continues to this day. An investigation into Varig Flight 967 concluded that the most likely cause of the plane’s missing was a sudden depressurization. The flight crew would then have lost consciousness, and the plane would have continued flying until it ran out of fuel and crashed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
Helios Airways Flight 522
On August 14th, 2005, Helios Airways Flight 522, a Boeing 737-300, crashed into a mountain near Athens, Greece, killing all 121 people on board. The investigation into the incident revealed a series of bizarre events, leading to the plane being dubbed the "Ghost Plane.” The aircraft was flying from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Athens, Greece, when air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft. Attempts to communicate with the pilots were unsuccessful, and the plane continued on its course without any signs of life in the cockpit. The Greek Air Force scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to intercept the aircraft. The pilots reported seeing the aircraft's captain slumped over in his seat and the co-pilot in a confused state. The fighter pilots attempted to communicate with the aircraft's crew through visual and hand signals but received no response. The plane continued on its course, eventually running out of fuel and crashing into a mountain. The investigation into the incident revealed that the cause of the crash resulted from a series of failures, including human error and technical problems.
One of the main factors contributing to the crash was the failure of the aircraft's pressurization system, which led to the crew becoming incapacitated due to hypoxia. The aircraft's oxygen supply system had been switched off, and the crew was unaware of the failure of the pressurization system. The investigation also revealed that the crew had not completed the pre-flight checklist properly, and the aircraft had taken off with the air conditioning packs set to the "manual" mode instead of "automatic." This meant that the aircraft's pressurization system was not working correctly from the start of the flight. Aviation expert and former pilot Patrick Smith states, "There was a sequence of events here that could have been avoided if just one of them had gone differently." The incident has raised questions about the need for improved training and awareness of the dangers of hypoxia in the aviation industry. The tragedy serves as a reminder of the importance of proper maintenance procedures and the need for clear communication and procedures in the cockpit. The "Ghost Plane" incident remains a haunting aviation mystery, and the lessons learned from the investigation continue to shape aviation safety protocols today.
More Ghost Planes
As it happens, Helios flight 522 was not the first time an aircraft crashed following a total pressure loss. Indeed, in October 1999, a Learjet 35 flying from Orlando to Dallas with six people onboard came down in Edmunds County, South Dakota, after flying for four hours without any input after hypoxia incapacitated everyone onboard due to an unspecified depressurization. Just under a year later, in September 2000, an Australian Beechcraft turboprop was also lost in similar circumstances while flying from Perth to Leonora with eight people onboard. Investigators determined that the plane crashed due to fuel exhaustion after its occupants were incapacitated but could not determine what caused this ultimately deadly loss in cabin pressure.
EgyptAir Flight 990
On October 31st, 1999, Egypt AirFlight 990, a Boeing 767-300, disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Massachusetts, killing all 217 people on board. The incident remains one of the most puzzling aviation mysteries in history. The aircraft was on a routine flight from New York to Cairo when, for reasons unknown, it began a sudden and steep descent. The plane rapidly lost altitude and crashed into the ocean at high speed. On the morning of the incident, the then 10-year-old Boeing 767-366ER (SU-GAP), operating flight 990, carried 203 passengers and 14 crew members for an overnight flight to Cairo. After the scheduled stopover at JFK, the flight took off from runway 22R at approximately 01:20 Eastern Time. Twenty minutes into the flight, the relief first officer unexpectedly entered the cockpit and requested to take over from the active first officer. After some reluctance, the active first officer gets relieved. Moments later, the active captain briefly leaves the cockpit to use the lavatory. As the only person on the controls, the relief first officer reportedly said, “I rely on God” multiple times. The autopilot was disengaged seconds before both engines were idle (presumably by the commanding relief first officer).
At approximately 01:50 ET, the aircraft went into a steep dive, and a near-weightlessness was observed. The captain managed to return to the cockpit and inquired what had happened while he was away. The captain tried to pull back on the control column while pushing the throttles to increase power, only to realize that both engines had cut the fuel. Nonetheless, the captain briefly brought the aircraft back from the nose dive to the altitude of 25,000 ft (7,600 m). With fuel to the engines still cut off and no electrical power on board, the aircraft went into another steep dive, with a descent rate of over 20,000 ft (6,100 m) per minute. The airframe incurred tremendous stress, and as a result, the left engine disconnected from the aircraft. The aircraft went into a brief spiral while still pitching downwards. Thirty-two minutes after taking off from JFK, the Boeing 767, carrying 217 passengers and crew, slammed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing everyone on board. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the incident and released its final report in March 2002. The report concluded that the cause of the crash was the result of the actions of the aircraft's co-pilot, who deliberately caused the aircraft to crash.
However, this conclusion has been highly controversial and contested by many experts and aviation professionals. Some have pointed out that the co-pilot had no known motive for committing suicide or causing the crash intentionally One theory suggests that there may have been a mechanical failure that caused the co-pilot to take drastic action. Aviation expert and former NTSB member John Goglia states, "It's still possible that there was some mechanical problem that caused the initial upset that the co-pilot was trying to control." Others have suggested that there may have been a struggle between the pilots, resulting in the co-pilot taking control of the aircraft. Aviation journalist Christine Negroni explains, "Some believe that there was a struggle in the cockpit, that someone was trying to take control of the aircraft, and that's what led to the crash." Although 70 percent of the airplane was recovered from the water and the cockpit voice recorder was found, the lack of conclusive evidence and the highly debated conclusion of the investigation have left many questions unanswered. Some have criticized the NTSB for handling the investigation and the lack of transparency in its findings. The disappearance of EgyptAir American Airlines Flight 990 remains a tragic aviation mystery, and the search for answers continues. The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of thorough investigations and the need for transparency in the aviation industry.
As we bring our journey through aviation mysteries to a close, we are left with a sense of awe and respect for the complexities of air travel. From the disappearance of Varig Flight 967 to the tragic crash of Helios Airways Flight 522, these incidents serve as a reminder of the importance of proper training, maintenance, and communication in the aviation industry. While we may never know the whole truth behind these events, we can honor the memories of those lost by continuing to strive for safer skies. Thank you for joining us on this journey, and we hope to see you again soon as we continue to explore the fascinating world of aviation.
Want more information? Learn more or request a detailed analytical report on the data in this article by visiting Consulting by Cota or listen to episode 19 of the cotacast as I discuss this topic. Listen for free on Spotify, anchor, or apple podcast on the cotacast homepage.
