The flight book of July 23, 2018 shows flights that never took place, said at the trial for the tragedy in Mati the Fire Department officer Vassilis Vorrias who emphasized to the judges that as in the case of Tempi, so in Mati “many had raised the alarm”.

As the Air Media Service officer testified, the flight log on the day in question shows 37 drops, registration that he emphasized that neither he nor his colleague did. Mr. Vorrias, who had reported the registration to the investigator of the case, pointed out that the number that appears is excessive saying characteristically that “as long as I’ve been at the Operations Center I’ve never heard a number like that before.”

He also said that he believed that this entry was made after the fact, after the destruction at the Eye had taken place, “following reports involving the Air Media Service” as he mentioned.

The officer was asked by Panagiotis Maniatis, the prosecutor of the Three-member Criminal Court, who else could write in the diary besides the witness himself and his colleague, and he replied that no one has the right to add anything else.

Prosecutor: Is the book fake? I’m asking directly.

Witness: The flight book protocol was not followed properly.

Prosecutor: Why are you afraid to say it?

Witness: Apparently the book was tampered with. This is in plain sight. It is not kept locked away somewhere.

Prosecutor: Is the number 37 throws excessive?

Witness: As long as I’ve been at the Operations Center, I’ve never heard such a number before.

Mr. Vorrias said that on the day of the destruction in Mati it happened “what all of us firefighters said shouldn’t happen” referring to the two major incidents, with a fire in Kineta and then in Eastern Attica, adding that everyone knew that the mechanism with two major events in Attica could not respond, something about which many “as in Tempe” warned “but the voices were not heard in time” as well as due to financial crisis “the means were with the dropper.”

According to the witness “no aerial vehicle extinguishes any forest fire. What the aerial vehicle does is it can contain the event, reduce the speed of spread, help drop water on mountainous terrain that vehicles can’t reach. The arduous work of firefighting is done by ground forces.”

In his own testimony, the air traffic coordinator who flew that day to Kineta and then to Mati, Efstratios Anastasopoulos, described the image he saw above the Dow and referred to the great difficulties he faced due to the adverse weather conditions. The Air Media Service officer testified that due to the direction and intensity of the winds “the helicopter flew like a nutcracker in a wave but safely.”

Chairman: It was heard here that if they had attempted three or four aerial vehicles and with the assistance of ground forces the picture in the fire in Mati would have been different.

Witness: When someone says that a fire goes out in the first minute with a glass of water, it is true but under constant conditions. In forest fires, however, the environment is completely different.

Mr. Anastasopoulos expressed reservations when asked by the president if people could have been saved if he had been informed and instructed in time. As the officer reported: “It is a very hypothetical question. Was car traffic ensured?’

The trial continues.