Cypriots disagree over helicopter crash report
Cypriot MPs on Saturday expressed discontent with the government’s decision to close an investigation into a helicopter crash last month in which the island’s army and air force chiefs died. On Friday, Defense Minister Socrates Hasikos made public a report which attributed the July 10 crash, in which all five people on the military helicopter were killed, to a fire that caused the aircraft to lose control. The report did not make clear the cause of the fire, but noted that foul play and pilot error could be ruled out. Hasikos said the file on the crash would be considered closed, unless new evidence was to turn up. But on Saturday, the head of the Parliamentary defense committee, Yiannakis Omirou, disagreed and called for the full report to be made available to the committee. He said Hasikos would be invited to provide further explanations.
