Ryanair last year introduced a policy of standing down pilots following family bereavements after a captain suffered a breakdown in the cockpit days after burying one of his children, it emerged today.
The procedure was introduced after the pilot froze on approach to Rome's Fiumicino airport and failed to act to correct a dangerous descent. A relatively inexperienced co-pilot grabbed the controls averting disaster.
Michael O'Leary, Ryanair chief executive, revealed that since the incident it is obligatory for pilots to inform the company of a death in the family. They are then stood down on compassionate grounds.
Ryanair insisted the policy reaffirmed company procedure to allow staff time off following a death.
Mr O'Leary insisted the plane was not close to crashing.
An Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) spokeswoman said Ryanair notified them of the incident within a day of it happening. A full report has since been sent to the IAA.
The incident occurred at an unspecified date in 2005 only days after the pilot had buried one of his children.
In the final approach to the airport, the plane was being buffeted in a thunderstorm, was badly off target for the runway and was flying too low and too fast to make a safe landing.
A Ryanair report into the incident revealed the autopilot had been turned off and the pilots were unsure where exactly they were in relation to the runway. As alarms went off warning of a possible crash, the first officer, a junior pilot, prompted the captain to see if he was in control.
Getting no response as the plane neared the ground, he intervened and increased the power suddenly pulling the plane out of the approach and up into a climb to a safe altitude. The plane eventually landed at Pescara airport outside Rome.
Mr O'Leary said the co-pilot had followed safety procedures to the letter, taking control of the plane when the pilot failed to respond to warnings. And he insisted none of the company's standard operating procedures had changed since the incident.
Mr O'Leary added that both the pilot and co-pilot had been given compassionate leave and underwent counselling and retraining following the incident. No passenger on board the aircraft would have been aware of the incident, he said.
PA
