Ryanair cleared of breaching safety rules

Ryanair has been cleared of allegations that it breached safety rules when three of its planes had to make emergency landings all on the same day in July at Madrid airport.

A joint investigation by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and Spanish authorities said Ryanair’s safety standards were “on a par with the safest airlines in Europe”, and they raised issues about the airports at Madrid and Valencia.

Ryanair has been under attack from Spanish politicians and media for the last few months after the transport department in Madrid claimed it had compiled a report of 1,201 incidents involving Ryanair for the first half of this year.

They demanded meetings with the IAA and European Commission as a result, but the report, compiled by the IAA with the Spanish aviation body, said the pilots behaved properly in the three mayday landings.

Ryanair flights from Stansted, Palma, and Skavsta were coming into Madrid airport on Jul 26 but, due to a thunder storm, decided not to land.

When told to land on a specific runway, the crews judged the weather to be too bad. One was hit by lightning as it circled.

All three asked to divert to Valencia with the fuel they had left still sufficient for the journey and enough left over for safety reasons.

However, when they reached Valencia, the airport was engulfed with planes that had been diverted and was finding it difficult to cope. Some of the crew told the investigators they had to try several times before getting a response from the control there.

They were holding above the airport waiting to land when all three separately judged that their fuel was getting to the limit of what they needed to carry. One overheard that they would have to remain holding for 35 minutes.

In each case the pilot asked to jump the queue and land, which meant triggering a mayday, with the landing being considered an emergency. They were met by fire brigades and fire personnel when they landed as per normal procedure.

One allegation against Ryanair was that it had told pilots to fly with minimum fuel to save money.

However, the IAA report said all three aircraft had in excess of flight plan requirements when departing for Madrid, and had in excess of the minimum required when the crew diverted to Valencia.

The Spanish inspectors explained there were regular delays at Madrid airport with extensive holding and circling when the southerly runways are in use.

The report said the Spanish authorities had also taken note of the Ryanair crews comments about the air traffic management at Valencia airport.

A joint statement from the IAA and the Spanish authorities said both bodies would develop a memorandum of understanding on increased co-operation and the Spaniards were invited to send an expert delegation to Dublin to be briefed in detail on the oversight of Ryanair’s operations.