Ambulance driver in plane ‘near miss’

A 43-year-old Dublin Airport ambulance driver, who thought her ambulance was going to be struck by a Ryanair plane as it was taking off, is suing the Irish Aviation Authority for psychological injuries she allegedly suffered as a direct result of what could have been a catastrophe at Dublin Airport.

Roselyn O’Neill told the Circuit Civil Court that on July 14, 2013, she had been given permission to cross the airfield by the air traffic control. She had been about to cross a runway when she saw the plane coming ahead of her and about to take off.

She told her counsel, Paul Andrew Gallagher, that she slammed on the ambulance brakes, shouting through her radio that she was stopping her vehicle. She said that shortly after she had stopped, the air traffic controller told her to hold her position.