Cypriot crash baffles authorities

From AP:

The Cypriot plane that crashed and killed all 121 people aboard flew on autopilot to its Athens destination -- but passed thousands of feet above the airport runway, the chief accident investigator told The Associated Press Thursday.

Helios Airways Flight ZU522 then turned toward the sea, flying in a holding pattern for more than an hour before changing course again crashing into a mountain north of Athens.
...
Chief investigator Akrivos Tsolakis told the AP an air traffic control diagram showed the plane had flown -- on automatic pilot -- to the Greek capital's international airport. But it was flying at 34,000 feet (10,360 meters) and turned south into its holding pattern over the island of Kea after passing over the airport.

"What troubles us is that the automatic pilot was functioning up to a certain point, and then it was disengaged, possibly by human action," Tsolakis said.

After TWA 800, 9/11, American 587, and Wellstone, I just instinctively don't believe official stories about plane crashes. But you learn that sometimes the most information is available early on--before the official cover-up is decided upon and in place. After that, it doesn't matter how many witnesses saw a missile or that no "mayday" call was sent or that no remains of the supposed plane can be seen or that there are powerful people who had motive and opportunity to arrange the crash AND the investigation. The official story is it, case closed, shut up you lunatic conspiracy theorist.

It will be interesting to see how many of the early details from this crash conveniently disappear when the "official" story comes out. I'd say chances are very good that they'll blame it on pilot error--dead men really suck at defending themselves.