Filenews 19 July 2022 - by Evangelia Sizopoulou
The Secretary General of the Ministry, Themistoklis Demiris, made a démarche to the Ukrainian ambassador in Athens yesterday, following the instructions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, regarding the Antonov aircraft that crashed near Kavala on Saturday night.
Greek authorities stress the need for prior information on the nature of the cargo carried by the Ukrainian aircraft, as a veil of mystery surrounds it.
According to the official update on the fall of Antonov by the Civil Aviation Authority, the Ukrainian-registered an Antonov 12-type aircraft, took off from the airport of Nis in Serbia with an eight-member crew and 11.5 tons of dangerous cargo. According to the flight plan he had submitted to the competent authorities of Serbia, the aircraft would operate a cargo flight to Bangladesh (Dhaka), with intermediate stops Jordan (Amman) and Saudi Arabia (Riyadh).
It entered Greek airspace at 22:09 local time. The plane at 22:37 informed the Control Center of the Athens - Macedonia Area (KEPATHM) that due to an operation reason it will not continue for its final destination and that it will return back to the departure airport.
At 22:42 flying east of Halkidiki, he informed the air traffic controllers at the approach of Thessaloniki that he has a problem in the engine number four, stating: "May day fire in the engine four".
The CAA immediately declared a risk situation by activating the relevant procedures provided for. At 22:45 the aircraft had a conversation with the Kavala control tower and informed that it was heading for an emergency landing. Permission to land was immediately given for the airport of Chrysoupoli in Kavala. At 22:47 the position of the aircraft was lost from the radars of air traffic.
On Sunday night, the HNDGS announced that during the operations all eight bodies of the occupants were located and recovered.
As for the veil of mystery surrounding the company and the flights of the fatal plane, as it is transmitted, it is not excluded that this flight orgasm is related to some operation, most likely military.
The company that managed the plane was the Ukrainian Meridian based in Kiev. However, as the SL Press reveals, both the aircraft that crashed and the other two Antonovs are not owned by it, pointing out that it has leased them under a long-term contract from the Cyprus-based company DS-Air Cyprus.
The information is cross-checked by Ch-Aviation, which reports that Meridian is currently operating three An-12s with plans to add a fourth aircraft before the end of the year.
"Everything is leased by DS Air Cyprus, according to the records of the Ukrainian civil aviation authority. The carrier was founded in 2003 and is wholly owned by Oleksandr Bogdanovych," the publication notes.
As the same source states, this company is registered in Cyprus on 12/07/2018 as a limited liability company. The Registration Number is ΕΕ392028 and until today the Cyprus Registration Organization refers it as active, based at 1 Poseidonos Street, Ledra Business Center, in Engomi. Data on directors and executives of the company are not available in the public registers, nor the name of owners.
Another point that raises questions is the trips that the fatal plane made in the last 48 hours. It landed at four different airports of four different countries.
The recipient of the cargo was allegedly the Bangladeshi Armed Forces, which gave their own details of the cargo. According to the information of the Serbian authorities, the plane was carrying the following ammunition, which was a legal cargo:
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