Ryanair admits further incident involving stressed pilot

Ryanair has detailed an incident in which the co-pilot of a Boeing 737-800 felt forced to take control the jet during an approach to Rome, and carry out a diversion, after becoming concerned about the state of the captain, whose son had died just days before.

The aircraft had been on approach to Rome Fiumicino but was diverted to Pescara by the co-pilot, admits the carrier, after the pilot suffered “mild incapacitation” that caused him to make “a number of errors in his handling of the aircraft”.

Bereavement appears to have been a contributing element, says a Ryanair spokesman, pointing out that the pilot’s son had died “a few days” before the incident. He adds that the pilot had not informed Ryanair of his son’s death and the carrier has since made it obligatory for pilots to report family bereavements.

Details of the incident, which occurred on an unspecified date last year, have emerged just weeks after the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) concluded that the captain of a Ryanair 737-800 that was involved in an unstable, high-speed landing at Stockholm Skavsta Airport had been under personal pressure, which had led to “irrational” and “inexplicable” behaviour.

Following that investigation Ryanair introduced additional stress-awareness training and, as part of this, highlighted the need for co-pilots to demonstrate appropriate assertiveness.

In a statement on the latest incident, which occurred during a flight from Dusseldorf to Rome, Ryanair says: “[The] captain who was operating the aircraft made a number of errors in his handling of the aircraft, which required the first officer – in compliance with Ryanair’s safety and cockpit resource management procedures – to take over the flight controls of the aircraft and facilitate a diversion to, and safe landing at, Pescara Airport.”

A Ryanair spokesman says the aircraft was approaching Rome in bad weather with the autopilot switched off when the pilot suffered “mild incapacitation”, prompting the co-pilot to take control.

The spokesman adds that, at the time of the incident, the aircraft was “not in its landing phase” and was “still at a high altitude”, although he declines to disclose further details.

Ryanair says the incident “did not constitute a notifiable incident as defined by the Irish Aviation Authority”, an assertion which Irish Airline Pilots Association president Evan Cullen finds “extraordinary”.

However, the Irish AAIU is to launch its own investigation because no such probe was carried out by the Italian authorities, says a spokeswoman for Ireland’s Department of Transport.

“Where an aircraft registered in Ireland is involved in an incident that takes place out of our jurisdiction, the AAIU will assist local authorities with their investigation,” says the spokeswoman. “If there is no investigation, the AAIU will carry out its own, and it will start an investigation into [the Ryanair] incident.”