"Greece Plane Crash Kills 121, 48 Children"

[GreenPartyVoter]

GRAMMATIKO, Greece (AP) - A Cypriot plane full of vacationers slammed into a hill north of Athens on Sunday after at least one pilot lost consciousness from lack of oxygen, killing all 121 people aboard - more than a third of them children.

The cause of Greece's deadliest plane crash appeared to be technical failure, resulting in high-altitude decompression, and not terrorism, authorities said. A transport official said all 115 passengers and six crew may have been dead when the plane went down.

Helios Airways flight ZU522 was headed from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Athens International Airport when it crashed at 12:05 p.m. near Grammatiko, a town 25 miles north of the Greek capital. Flaming debris, luggage and bits of human remains were strewn across a ravine and surrounding hills.

Family members wept in anguish as they waited at the Athens and Larnaca airports. When news of the crash emerged at Larnaca, relatives swarmed the airline counters, shouting "murderers" and "you deserve lynching."

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20050814/D8BVQAB80.html?PG=home&SEC=news

[ugarte]

1. And yet some question Cindy Sheehan's grief

There is nothing in this world worse than burying your child.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Agreed

[cliss]

3. There's something puzzling about this story.

I was listening on the radio when they were describing the crash. The announcer said that "this is typical of what happens when you go up to 35,000 feet altitude. A person can only survive for about 10 seconds without an oxygen mask.

As I was driving home, I wondered:

1) The plane was flying from Cyprus to Greece. This is not a very big distance. Would the plane go up that high, just for a quick plane ride?

2) If people can only survive for a few seconds without an oxygen mask, why is it that stowaways are able to survive for an entire, transcontinental flight like crossing the Pacific, or hiding out somewhere else on the plane, and surviving?