CYPRIOT AIRLINER CRASHES - HIJACK LIKELY

Any fatal crash is a tragedy, but especially so if the passengers and crew died as a result of a hijacking:

A Cypriot Boeing 737 airliner with at least 121 people on board has crashed, with the pilots apparently slumped at the controls, near the Greek capital Athens.

A spokesman for the Greek army chief-of-staff said hijacking "could not be ruled out".

"An act of piracy is likely," said the spokesman, Gerassimos Kalpoyannakis.

Just before the crash, air force crew observed the airline's pilots doubled up in the cabin, an air traffic controller said.

The pilots of the two F-16 fighters jets that were sent up to escort the airliner before the crash "saw a situation that was not normal in the pilots' cabin", Mr Kalpoyannakis said.

Update: According to CNN, 80 of the passengers were children on a school trip. Current speculation is that the plane experienced some sort of technical problem. This line of thinking is based on the observation of the F-16 pilots, who say that the co-pilot was wearing an oxygen mask.

Update II: CNN reports that an SMS sent by a passenger indicated that the pilots were unconscious. Odd that the pilots were unconscious but the passengers were not.

Update III: Speculation – and it's all speculation at this point – now leans very much to a loss of cabin pressure as the cause of the accident. The reports of passengers communicating by mobile are being questioned.

CNN has just shown an excerpt from Cypriot TV stating that the 737 had only recently returned to service after being grounded for problems with the air-conditioning system. Apparently the pilot reported problems with the air-conditioning during the flight.