The plane crash that killed 66 people but what happened still hasn’t been answered

Families of 66 passengers and unit killed connected committee the British European Airways flight are inactive seeking answers 57 years aft the level exploded.

Their quest for justness has not been made immoderate easier by mysterious classified documents, sealed distant from the nationalist by the Home Office until 2067.

Families person been seeking answers to this time since the detonation connected October 12, 1967, aft a bombing of the British European Airways CY284 connected its mode from Athens, Greece, to Nicosia successful Cyprus.

Years later, the crushed for the bombing is shrouded successful enigma that resembles the crippled of a James Bond film, involving theories and suspects astatine the bosom of the Cold War-era assemblage struggles.

All passengers and unit were killed erstwhile the De Havilland Comet level crashed into the Mediterranean successful a suspected assassination effort targeting a Cypriot militia man.

The level was carrying dozens of passengers from the UK, Greece and Cyprus on with immoderate US citizens. The nighttime earlier departing Athens, passengers had boarded it from London Heathrow and galore had stayed on, bound for Nicosia connected what was meant to beryllium a regular flight.

But successful the aboriginal hours of the morning, arsenic the craft was cruising astatine astir 29,000 ft, it exploded supra immoderate of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean.

Whoever had planted the weaponry astir succeeded successful hiding each the grounds had not immoderate bodies and debris remained connected the surface.

Simon Hepworth, 65, a retired constabulary officer, remembers the ‘traumatic’ time the detonation made headlines astir the world.

His begetter worked with BEA skipper Gordon Blackwood and the families were close, surviving immoderate doorway distant from each different successful Bracknell, Berkshire, and Gordon’s girl babysat with the Hepworth family.

Gordon was 1 of the radical killed erstwhile the craft was bombed and his decease was a ‘tremendous shock.’

‘Being successful the BEA household it was precise adjacent to home. It was thing that stayed with maine for galore years,’ helium said.

Since 2017, Simon has been researching the calamity and has written a publication astir it.

He told Metro: ‘It was thing my parents ne'er forgot. My begetter had kept a acceptable of BEA aviator wings that came from Gordon’s azygous and I was capable to springiness them backmost to his daughter.

‘For radical who mislaid household members, it’s similar a wound. There was nary accusation for decades truthful the families were ne'er capable to get immoderate benignant of closure and that’s significant.’

Together with a surviving household subordinate of 1 of the victims, Christine, they person lobbied for a reappraisal of the investigation.

The Met Police was incapable to reopen the lawsuit each these years later, but a reappraisal was carried retired to spot if they followed each evident leads.

‘Their uncovering was no, they didn’t. If this probe was done now, it would beryllium done precise differently,’ Simon said.

The Met Police reappraisal successful 2021 came to the aforesaid conclusion. It said that portion it is ‘possible to support the MPS presumption successful 1968’ a akin incidental nowadays would ‘attract a wholly antithetic response.’

It suggested that different ‘police enquiries should person been made astatine the time, which would person progressive liaison astatine a elder authorities level.’

There was nary grounds of ‘any authoritative attack to the Greek and Cypriot government’ to enactment the constabulary investigation, the reappraisal added.

It noted: ‘A decently managed and directed investigative strategy, with the afloat enactment of the big nation, whitethorn good person identified a fishy group….there does not look to person been immoderate committedness to prosecute those liable and successful fact, it appears that obstacles were placed successful the mode to frustrate oregon undermine the enquiry, some successful the UK and successful Cyprus.’

Simon commended the enactment of the Met Police reappraisal squad successful revealing the mode its ain squad worked successful 1968. But helium inactive wants to spot the remaining papers truthful that the families tin yet get closure.

Why was the weaponry planted?

A full of 51 bodies were recovered from the oversea a time aft the disaster. At first, investigators thought the pitchy had collided with different aircraft.

However, investigators discovered military-grade integrative explosive worldly successful 1 of the Comet’s rider seats floating successful the sea, according to publically disposable records.

Who was the people of the bombing?

The abbreviated reply is, nary 1 knows for definite arsenic immoderate of the files stay sealed off.

However, the main mentation suggests it was an assassination effort connected Georgios Grivas, a paramilitary person successful the Cypriot War of Independence and a cardinal fig successful securing Cyprus’s independency from the British Empire.

Hepworth’s mentation – based connected his extended probe and interviews successful Greece and Cyprus – is that Grivas was booked to beryllium connected the formation but helium changed his plans past minute.

He said helium recovered this retired aft speaking with Grivas’s since-deceased erstwhile unit serviceman who claimed helium made the booking himself.

‘He had made a tentative booking connected that formation but helium past became alert that 1 of Grivas’s governmental rivals was trying to way his movements. Therefore, helium cancelled the formation for Grivas past infinitesimal and booked him connected the adjacent flight.

‘But helium said helium didn’t realise that the onslaught connected Grievas was going to beryllium a weaponry onslaught and connected the full aircraft.’

‘There was a batch of unit successful Cyprus earlier the independence,’ Hepworth explained, comparing the struggle to the concern successful Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

‘This was besides successful the contiguous run-up to the problems with the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots trying to get escaped of the Turkish Cypriots which successful 1974 led to the penetration of Cyprus by Turkey.’

Grivas was motivated by an autarkic Cyprus escaped of British assemblage regularisation and uniting the land with Greece.

The land gained independency successful August 1960, but not earlier the British assemblage medication had offered a hefty sum for anyone with accusation starring to Grivas’s arrest.

Around the clip of the level explosion, Grivas was a cardinal fig successful starring the Greek Cypriot forces against a imaginable Turkish attack, and helium made galore enemies during his agelong vocation arsenic a paramilitary combatant and leader.

One of those enemies is thought to person been Polycarpos Giorkatzis, the determination commandant of EOKA successful Cyprus – whose apical person Grivas was – and Archbishop Makarios III, the president of Cyprus.

The men were progressive successful a powerfulness conflict implicit the National Guard, and it is rumoured that Makarios whitethorn person wanted to get escaped of Grivas successful a mode that could beryllium masked arsenic an accident.

It was besides a delicate and volatile clip the British authorities was trying to navigate.

After the crash, a constabulary probe was launched by the Met Police into the incidental with analyzable details arsenic it happened successful planetary airspace and the victims were of assorted nationalities.

A publically disposable missive successful the National Archives from the British Foreign Office to Detective Superintendent Percy Browne said that if helium was to find grounds to suggest that the detonation was ‘arranged successful bid to harm idiosyncratic successful authorities successful Cyprus oregon Greece past a precise delicate concern would arise.’

A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘The bombing of CY284 successful 1967 was an atrocity which claimed the lives of 66 people, including 21 UK nationals. No-one has been brought to justice, and determination remains galore unanswered questions.

‘It is simply a people of the courageousness and tenacity of the families of those who mislaid their lives connected that fateful formation that they proceed to run for justice.

‘It was a ailment by a surviving comparative successful 2021 that prompted the Met to transportation retired a reappraisal of the enquiries made into this substance astatine the clip it happened.

‘We anticipation the findings of this reappraisal springiness those families further clarity and knowing astir the circumstances of the attack, and what the Met and different partners did successful the contiguous aftermath.

‘As with each reviews of past investigations, nevertheless agelong agone they occurred, we volition bespeak connected what lessons we tin larn and use to the enactment we bash today.

‘We person remained focused connected getting answers for the families and precocious had the accidental to be a memorial for victims wherever we were capable wage our respects with those families.’

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