Ryanair denies that flight ‘nearly crashed’
Ryanair has denied that one of its flights from Manchester Airport almost crashed when its pilots tried to make up lost time.
The claims were made by German magazine Der Spiegel, which reported the findings of an investigation into the incident in September by Germany’s air safety officals.
It said pilots tried a new manoeuvre when they came into land at Memmingen Airport in Bavaria because of time pressures.
Investigators said the Boeing 737, with 141 people on board, was at one point only 150m above the ground, despite being several miles from the airport.
Pilots were alerted by a warning sound in the cockpit and "barely succeeded to pull the jet up", according to the report.
But a spokesman for Ryanair claimed the investigators’ original report was later changed and that the flight did not almost crash.
"Ryanair flight FR3214 (Manchester – Memmingen) was on its final approach to the runway in Memmingen when they encountered unexpectedly high tail-winds," said a statement from the airline.
"The crew decided to initiate a go-around procedure in-line with Ryanair operating policy. After they had already commenced the go-around, the aircraft warning systems sounded and the crew completed their go-around, landing normally a short time later.
"This incident was reported to the Irish Aviation Authority on September 24, and is the subject of an ongoing investigation."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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