NICOSIA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus is bringing criminal charges against five persons deemed responsible for an deadly air crash which killed 121 people on board three years ago, Cypriot Attorney General Petros Clerides said on Tuesday.

    The Boeing 737-300 plane of Cyprus' budget company Helios Airways was flying from Larnaca to Czech capital Prague on Aug. 14,2005 when it crashed into a hillside just north of Athens, capital of Greece. All passengers and crew members were killed in the air tragedy.

    "We reached the conclusion that the evidence we studied justifya criminal prosecution against some persons whom we believe are responsible for the plane crash," the chief prosecutor said at a press conference.

    Greek investigators have found that the plane had flown on autopilot for nearly two hours before it crashed, with its pilots probably unconscious due to a serious drop in cabin pressure.

    The investigation has pointed to possible human error. Boeing company and Cypriot civil aviation supervisors were also blamed by the grief-stricken relatives of the perished Cypriot holidaymakers.

    Clerides did not name the five suspects, nor the specific charges.