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THE IRISH AVIATION Authority (IAA) has said that it is “disappointed” with the Channel 4 Dispatches programme that aired last night, which revealed the safety concerns of some Ryanair pilots.
Details of three flights which issued Mayday fuel alerts in one incident were given in the programme last night. The planes had been diverted from Madrid to Valencia but had all entered into their reserve fuel tanks and had less than half an hour of flying left.
In a statement today, the IAA said that it was disappointed that “once again Channel 4 Dispatches has decided to engage in a misguided attack on the regulation of a low cost carrier, based upon false and misleading information”.
The IAA said this information “may undermine the travelling public’s confidence in civil air transport in Europe, which, because of the intensive regulatory regime, remains the safest mode of mass transport”.
Commenting on Ryanair’s fuel policy, the IAA added that it was regularly reviewed and that it has “no concerns” that any undue upload restrictions “implied of otherwise” exist. It added that the fact that all three of the aircraft mentioned in this incident landed safely “shows that the system worked in full”.
Safety
The programme last night also gave details of a survey commissioned by The Ryanair Pilot Group, which found that more than eight out of ten pilots in the airline believe it does not have an “open and transparent safety culture”. In addition, just over two thirds of those surveyed said they didn’t feel comfortable raising safety-related issues through the company’s own internal systems.
The authority said it conducts a “comprehensive” oversight and surveillance programme of all Irish airlines and that Ryanair fully complies with all European and international regulations in all of its operations.
The IAA does not rely on surveys carried out by either airlines or Pilots Groups’. Instead we operate the system mandated by the European Union (EASA)
Over 7,350 reports were received by the IAA from aviation professionals and the statement said that it responded to personal letters and reports from Ryanair pilots as well as having several meetings and face-to-face interviews with them.
“The fact that the outcome of an investigation or analysis does not concur with the views of the persons concerned does not alter the fact that they were investigated in full,” it said.
Speaking to Newstalk earlier today, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said that despite the incident with the three flights, the airline has not changed its policy and added that pilots are the ones who choose the fuel load on the planes they fly.
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Watched the programme and what I got from it is that Ryanair followed all the guidelines in place and that there are some disgruntled pilots.
Would you put your life and the life of hundreds in danger when you went to work?? Of course not. If the pilots didn’t think it was safe, they wouldn’t fly.
Exactly! Channel 4 clearly have an agenda. No big shock there…
Spoken like a true career skeptic.Don’t you have any idea what peer pressure has done to people in history over the years.
True career skeptic. Peer pressure. Please explain how you have deduced that I’m a career skeptic from my comment? Also, to horse shoe peer pressure in where it doesn’t belong? If you could also justify that. Cheers!
Channel 4 is like the Daily Mail. Sensationalising everything is what they do.
I’m really surprised Channel 4 went ahead without getting all the facts straight and insuring the programme was without bias.
Really? Surprised at that from C4? That surprises me!
When I fill my car with petrol I know what my expected mileage should be, I also know that if the red light comes on that there is a certain amount of mileage that I can expect to get from the reserve before I conk out. Ryan air i’m sure know what amount of fuel it takes to get them from a-b. They are the kings of cutting things to the bone. But they have the same rules to follow as everyone else when it comes to safety procedures. Ryan air made air travel affordable to everyone, I for one would not of been able to travel with my family as often as I have to see my relatives in England. This was just another stick to beat Ryan air as far as I can see.
I wish you would talk to my wife. We share a car and she thinks €10 is more than enough for the week ahead.
:) you have her spoiled john.
The question is why have Ryanair got so many disgruntled pilots? There is no smoke without fire!
Pay, contracts, no union…many reasons to be disgruntled.
See, the problem I have with that is that no one can say that it’s “so many” with any real context since there is no information about (or other similar) airlines. Who’s to say that there aren’t similar levels of dissatisfaction in other carriers?
Pilots are struggling with the concept that they are just another employee these days. The big money and glamour associated with being a pilot are a thing of the past. As far as I know pilots still earn a generous wage but it’s nowhere near what it would have been in the past.
@Ted, and is there any possibility that could affect safety?
This is becoming comical. There was a show in Holland called mayday which showed the same thing and klm unionised pilots giving their verdicts. If anyone on here thinks a pilot is going to risk his life in a Ryanair plane apply for a job in channel 4
In my opiion channel 4 got it right but the weak people at IAA are afraid of the mullingar untouchable bully. I’m looking forward to the court case to see Ryanair found out.
A 23-year operating history with not had a single incident involving major injury to a passenger or a member of its flight crew… Not sure what you think will be found out.
Don’t hold your breath Denise. This is quite a regulated industry safety wise. I suspect pay and conditions is the real gripe here.
What would they be found out about exactly? They haven’t breached any European safety regulations and have an impeccable safety record for an airline of their age. Channel 4 is quite frankly clutching at straws to get a bit of publicity and nothing more.
Denise
What Court case are you talking about? . The idea you portray of an Irish or International Aviation Authority being afraid to speak out is unadulterated rubbish. The standards observed by Ryanair match those observed by British Airways and Air France in respect of fuel loads. Are you going to suggest these Companies are unsafe to fly with?
I can name one straight out that breaches all known saftey rules..Refuelling an aircraft with passengers aboard or boarding.
I honestly cant see how the IAA can honestly say there is no concern here.Would be intresting to see what the FAA or CAA would findt in an independant survey.I reckon thats O Leary dumped the idea of a cheap trans Atlantic airline.He knew the playing fast&loose and rule bending wouldnt wash with the FAA.
James, think you’re spot on there. Suspect there are more pilots than posts at present in Europe and the job has ceased to be the very glamorous one it once was. More akin to driving a high speed train with added complexity and the pilots are really paid for their ability to do the right things in adverse conditions etc. Flying modern aircraft is not a superhuman job…….I’m told by a pilot friend.
I’m guessing that Ryanair pilots aren’t in the same pay league as, say, Emirates, pilots but they knew that when they signed-up. Grumbling has a way of becoming epidemic in a company and I suspect that Ryanair management don’t lose any sleep over it.
In terms of safety, Ryanair have an enviable record and one of the youngest fleets in the world.
C4 Dispatches ? The Daily Wail of the airwaves. Lots of noise, very little substance.
Ryanair having the newest fleet is nothing to do with safety, it has to do with the fees paid at airports being much lower for newer/cleaner/quieter planes, substantially lower.
I have been on ole to of non ryanair flights that have refuelled with passengers on board. Doors stay open and we were told not to fasten our seatbelt a other than that nothing significant.
*plenty of non ryanair flights…
Simon stop.it is not illegal to refuel with pax on board once a person is in the cockpit and once a person is outside connected to a headset.haha you think the FAA is stringent?? Sure look at the state of some if the US carriers regarding safety
Brian, Wouldn’t argue with that and you are right; safety and fleet age are not necessarily linked. My line comment should have read : “In terms of safety, Ryanair have an enviable record. In addition, they have one of the youngest fleets in the world. Apologies for sloppy writing.
Ryanair’s mechanics are about the best paid in the field, I don’t think O Leary would ever be careless about safety, if one of his planes falls from the sky it’s all over for him. I’m no fan of him, but he definitely made flying more affordable for everyone. I don’t think you have to be ignorant arsed to be low cost.
Simon. Fuelling with passengers onboard is allowed as long as procedures are followed. Do you honestly think any airline would get away with something as obvious as that if it was not allowed ? Have you any idea how heavily this industry is regulated?
IAA never stop inspecting Ryanair and if they could, they would have grounded the fleet They simply can’t find anything wrong with Ryanairs procedures and this is why the airline is still doing so well and IAA are defending it
I personally think this is an unjust attack on Ryanair but I was concerned about the fact that the black box recordings were not saved on a few occasions. These recordings are vital to any investigation…
Haven’t seen the show or the reference to the black boxes but I would imagine they werent saved because there was no incident – far as I know the voice recorder for example is on a thirty minute continuously overwritten loop. Not sure of the data recorders work on a similar principle but I would imagine at some point they are overwritten to make way for a new flight’s data
DFDR is 25hrs,the CVR newer type have 4×30 min channels.these just record over each other as time goes on.
It’s very obvious that someone has the knife out for Ryanair or Michael O’ Leary. Their record stands for itself. It’s the tail trying to wag the dog, but I’m afraid they are barking up the wrong tree. Cheers Ryanair,
That is some mixture of metaphors!!
metaphor city.
Dont like them ? Then dont work for them. Dont like them ? Then dont fly with them. Massive Irish company, we should be supporting them not slatn them. Nation of begruders,lets all blame fine gale,labour n hav a gud winge about it.
Would it not have been more correct for Mick to say
“Pilots are the ones who choose the fuel load on the planes they fly”, IN LINE WITH COMPANY POLOICIES.
I notice a lot of red thumbs.
Can I ask those people if they know what would Mick & the airline do with a pilot who chooses a fuel load NOT in line with company poloicies?
What’s this about a “low cost carrier”??? Please nothing cheap about Ryan Air. Aer Lingus is cheaper.
Totally agree! They are more expensive and leave you in the middle of nowhere! Aer Lingus all the way!
@Sandra, have to agree, nothing low cost about them, but a lot of low class
I have a simple rule, il take all costs into account on travelling from a to b, I will fly with who ever is cheaper Ryanair or Aerlingus , or if aerlingus are close or the same il fly with them. Out of my last 18 flights, 16 of them have been Ryanair.
The only thing that could be misguided against Ryanair would be a missile
I really believe that this fundamentally a bit of “Paddy Bashing” at the end of the day. Ryanair a wee Irish company is the biggest budget airline in Europe , how the hell did that happen? Channel 4 is now no more than a tabloid tv station and will prove that time and time again with nonsense like this show.
If Ryanair take a case against Channel 4, will they pay a penalty if its over 10kg
Brown envelopes!
Maybe c4 should of looked at easyjet and BA.another engine cowl incident today on an easyjet.
Get back to MOL if their 29 year safety record does become unblemished otherwise this truly was a nothing documentary.
Richie,You are so misled and you can’t fathom that if pilots that work for Ryanair say that safety is not correct then there is something wrong, so why do they destroy the black box,maybe you should ask a 6 year old child.
Denise don’t be misled by this C4 production, the show was complete headline grabbing rubbish. Pilots aren’t happy with pay and contracts and are using health and safety as a great way of hitting back. Perhaps you can explain the exemplary safety record for the company? Just because the TV says it doesn’t make it true.
@Denise, you think they destroyed a black box? the one thing expected to survive a crash and you think they destroyed it
Denise you are making a fool of yourself.stop
Well said Denise
Pilots can be told before their retuning flight back to their base that they now have to fly to another destination first & then return home & if they refuse, they would face the ultimate sanction.. I fly with Ryanair, they get me from A to B but they are gangsters to work for by all accounts..
The gangsters have a queue as long as your arm of people waiting to work there…don’t think that would be the case if they were that bad.
You do know the planes have a schedule and a flight plan ..its not like a courier service where they are just sent anywhere to collect passengers…The pilots can only fly for a certain number of hours so I can’t see them being sent somewhere else on a whim
Being told to fly to another airport is all part of how airlines operate. That’s how they get replacement aircraft there when one is grounded for a technical fault or delayed at another airport. That’s the responsibility of the airlines flight operations team – to make sure aircraft and crews are in place, to minimise the delays, and maximise the flying time for the aircraft. All crew know that when they join any airline. That’s how Ryanair achieve such good profitability. An aircraft on the ground is not earning revenue.
Yes I do know that but this is information is straight from a Ryanair pilot himself, I don’t claim to be an expert on this but as I say this is his opinion as someone qualified to provide an insight.
After 9/11 many Americans stopped flying and as a result there was an estimated 1,000 deaths in car accidents more than there would have been. If these sort of programs frightened people into driving instead of flying they will cause deaths. I strongly suspect that more people have died on ferries than flying in Europe in recent decades.
Pilots are no longer looked at as the elite of the skies They are forced to take pay cuts and some don’t like management telling them how to do their job They won’t speak up to their bosses, and believe there are many ways of reporting your concerns( if any) in aviation, most of which are anonymus and fully confidential Instead they go to C4 and make fulls of themselves IAA would never defend an airline if they were concerned about the very airlines safety record
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