ATHENS, Aug 20: Six days after the worst air crash to occur on Greek soil, Greek investigators have taken a step closer to piecing together the tragic Cypriot plane’s final moments by matching blood found in the cockpit wreckage to a flight steward.

Working with DNA samples sent from Cyprus, police criminologists matched the blood to steward Andreas Prodromou, a police source said on Saturday.

“Fingerprints were also found in the cockpit, but they were unusable,” the source said. “However, blood found on the rudder controls has been identified as belonging to Prodromou.”

Prodromou’s body has yet to be identified, the source added.

The bodies found nearest to the cockpit are those of co-pilot Pambos Charalambous and flight attendant Louisa Vouteri, head investigating coroner Philippos of Koutsaftis said.

Local media have long speculated that Mr Prodromou, a trained small aircraft pilot standing in as cabin crew, desperately tried to save the Helios airline’s Boeing 737 after both its qualified pilots were apparently incapacitated.

Citing defence ministry sources and flight records, Greek media have reported that someone ‘clearly’ attempted to land the plane in the final moments before it crashed into a hillside near Athens, killing all 121 people on board.

The fighter pilots also reported seeing two people in the cockpit ‘apparently seeking to regain control of the aircraft’.—AFP