A co-pilot of a Ryanair aircraft, who left it at Prestwick following a dispute with the captain, claims she was unfairly dismissed and has issued proceedings against the company, the High Court was told yesterday.
Mr Paul Sreenan SC said his client, Ms Cliodhna Duggan, Bettyglen, Raheny, Dublin had sought the tape on the aircraft cockpit voice recorder for the particular flight but had learned it had been recorded over. Ms Duggan wanted Ryanair to preserve a number of categories of documents pending the hearing of her action.
Ms Justice Carroll was told by counsel for Ryanair the company would preserve the documents but this did not include the voice recorder which ran in a continuous 30-minute loop and was only retained if there was a problem.
Mr Sreenan said Ms Duggan's claim related to an incident on a Ryanair flight from Charleroi to Prestwick on July 10th last. He said Ms Duggan left the flight deck at Prestwick. The tape of the exchanges between the pilot and co-pilot which had led to Ms Duggan's dismissal was not preserved by Ryanair.
Ms Duggan is seeking an order for her reinstatement and compensation. She claims Ryanair discriminated against her arising out of alleged sexual harassment by the aircraft's pilot.
She also claims she was asked on July 10th last to work on her day off and had been reluctant as she had worked four of the five previous days. She had also been reluctant to operate the particular flight when told the identity of the aircraft's captain, having regard to her previous experience with him.
After leaving the aircraft at Prestwick, she had contacted Ryanair in Dublin and informed the company she could not fly the return flight with the aircraft's captain. She claimed he had repeatedly shouted at her.
She had been the pilot flying the aircraft and had landed it safely at Prestwick, she added. She had been extremely distressed and upset at the captain's manner and the way he treated her. A colleague had agreed to fly the return leg.