August 14: Helios Airways flight ZU522 from Cyprus to Prague crashed into a mountainside north of Athens after at least one pilot lost consciousness from lack of oxygen. All 121 aboard were killed, 48 of them children.
The cause of Greece's deadliest crash appeared to be technical failure resulting in high-altitude decompression. The plane was apparently on automatic pilot when it crashed. The co-pilot was slumped over his seat, the captain was not in the cockpit, and oxygen masks dangled. Flaming debris and human remains were strewn across the surrounding hills.
Photograph: HASAN MROUE/AFP/Getty Images