The village of Granitis Dramas plunged into sadness, where today relatives and friends said goodbye to squadron commander Statis Tsitlakidis, captain of the fateful Phantom.

The procession began at 12 noon. The parents of the 31-year-old man arrived at the church devastated while his partner held a photo of them together.

Half-mast flags fluttered all over the square, and early in the morning dozens of wreaths from relatives, friends and military authorities arrived at the temple.

The unfortunate captain’s family decided to distribute sweets and flowers to those who were there to say goodbye to their beloved Stathis.

“Here comes our hero, you still had a lot to offer the Air Force, but unfortunately you left too soon,” he told his colleague at the funeral with obvious excitement.

You have never been an ordinary person. You have always been a hero. We honor someone’s efforts to achieve the impossible at any cost. You showed us the way here, to the untouched Nevrokopi. You proved what the ideals and values ​​of our country are. You have demonstrated in practice the concept of friendship, companionship and family,” said his brother, for his part.

The procession that carried the body of the unfortunate squadron to the holy temple of Panmegisto Taxiarchon, in the Granite Drama, was led by an officer – his colleague, who held a sword and a platoon and who in October will be best man at his wedding.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, honoring the two hero pilots, awarded them the highest rank of Air Force leadership, giving them the rank of vice-captains.

The President of the Republic attended the funeral procession of Squadron Leader Efstathios Tsitlakides at the Granite Drama. Katerina SakellaropoulouPrime Minister Kyriakos MitsotakisMinister of National Defense Nikos Panagiotopoulos And delegation of SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance consisting of the head of the Ministry of Defense, Thodoris Drica, the former head of GEETHA, Christos Christodoulou, and the head of the Ministry of Justice, Theophilos Xanthopoulos.

The first flight of “Phantoms” after the crash

According to ERT, on Wednesday, the day before the funeral of co-pilot Mario-Michael Turucic, the commander of the 338th Mars Squadron flew again with the Phantom along with his mate.

The Air Force engineers did their best and checked all available Phantoms to determine if there were any technical problems.