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
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
A Ryanair spokesman says the aircraft was approaching
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
“Where an aircraft registered in
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news