Ryanair ‘facing Italian air accident agency investigation’

17 March 2006

The well respected journal Flight International has reported that Italian air accident investigation agency ANSV has launched an investigation into what it described as a series of flawed approaches flown into Rome by a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 flying from Düsseldorf.

The delay in investigating the 7th September 2005 flight is due to the failure of Ryanair to submit its final report on the incident to the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU), Flight International quotes the ANSV as saying. The Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) has responded by questioning whether Ireland has an adequate safety oversight system in place

According to the Flight International’s article, Ryanair’s internal report on the incident described an “almost complete loss of situational awareness, both lateral and vertical” onboard. High workload and turbulent weather were cited as contributing factors.

In the recent Channel 4 Dispatches documentary Ryanair: caught napping, flight deck officers as well as cabin crew spoke of the fear of losing their jobs if they took time off work - potentially resulting in a dangerous culture of overwork.

The AAIU had attributed a previous incident at Stockholm Skavsta airport to the pilot’s “stress related to family concerns” (Flight International, 11-17 October 2005).

Source: Flight International, 24 January 2006