Ryanair Issues Statement on ’3 Aircraft’ Fuel Incident on July 26th
Ryanair
Ryanair has issued a statement regarding the events of July 26th when 3 of their aircraft had to divert to Valencia, Spain due to running low on fuel.
Statement by Ryanair:
Due to severe thunderstorms over Madrid on Thursday (26 July) Spanish air traffic control instructed a number of inbound aircraft (including 3 Ryanair aircraft) to divert to and hold over Valencia Airport.
Having held over Valencia for 50 mins, 68 mins and 69 mins after their scheduled landing time in Madrid, Ryanair’s 3 aircraft (following standard industry safety procedures) requested air traffic control permission to land immediately as they reached their reserve fuel minimums, which allow each aircraft to operate for an additional 30 minutes (approx 300 miles) of flying.
All 3 aircraft landed normally with reserve fuel levels (of approx 30 mins or 300 miles of flying) remaining.
Category: Airnation
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- Ryanair 'Mayday' Fuel Landing to be Investigated by Spanish Regulators | August 16, 2012
Exactly as i had thought… By the book procedure!
Chris… you read a press release from Ryanair and of course that’s “by the book procedure”? When did you become the Ryanair apologist? From the http://www.independent.ie/national-news/three-ryanair-mayday-calls-go-out-on-same-day-3197081.html newssite “…According to voice recordings of the conversation between a Ryanair pilot and ATC in Valencia, the flight commander clearly calls “mayday” because of low fuel. Less than three minutes later another Ryanair pilot also issued a mayday to Valencia ATC for the same reason.” Now by the book procedure doesn’t give ANY pilot the right to make a “Mayday” call unless there is an actual emergency. So which is it? Normal procedure or an emergency. You can’r have it both ways Chris!
Dennis…I have to comment on your comments. If you recall the crash of Avianca Flight 52 in 1990, the pilots hesitated to call Mayday right to the end and ended up being stick handled by ATC until time ran out and they crashed. 30 minutes is plenty of flying time if you are coming out of a hold and being vectored for landing but by not using the words MAYDAY they will not get the priority attention and a series of missteps could result in a more negative outcome.
I will comment that any pilot has the ‘right’ to declare a MAYDAY any time he or she feels that the aircraft is or could be heading into a dangerous situation. Many accidents could have had a better outcome if the AC commander had of declared a MAYDAY and received the priority handling from ATC that this feared word brings with it.
There is no book definition on when it can be used. Pilots discretion as in the end, the pilot in command is always the final responsible party.
Just saying…….
Tony…. in theory you are correct. A pliot can call a Mayday any time they feel they have an emergency situation. But there is a “book definaition” and every pilot with an FAA license has to learn it.
“FAA/AIM 6-1-2. Emergency Condition- Request Assistance Immediately
a. An emergency can be either a distress or urgency condition as defined in the Pilot/Controller Glossary. Pilots do not hesitate to declare an emergency when they are faced with distress conditions such as fire, mechanical failure, or structural damage. However, some are reluctant to report an URGENCY condition when they encounter situations which may not be immediately perilous, but are potentially catastrophic. An aircraft is in at least an urgency condition the moment the pilot becomes doubtful about position, fuel endurance, weather, or any other condition that could adversely affect flight safety.”
What we’re talking about is that the Ryanair pilots knew their fuel conditions and instead of transmitting an “Urgency” request to Spanish ATC they radioed “Mayday”. My questions is if they still had 30 minutes of fuel on board after they were on the ground, according to the Ryanair spokesperson, did they call “Mayday”? To me it shows either a lack of planning or a desire to jump ahead of the crowd. Its like calling “Wolf”. And its true, the Pilot is the final responsible party and that includes poor fuel management and disrespect for the other flights that were landing at Vallencia.
Just an observation here but is it not correct that a Pilot is subject to industry standard rules above and beyond those of his/her employer? The pilot in command knows what the aircraft can or cannot do and operates the flight accordingly and as there was severe weather in the area, options were limited somewhat!!
After all, the pilot has the final say on whether the flight leaves the ground and from that moment, in this case, Ryanair, CAA/FAA rules or their local equivilants take over and if not, I shall never fly the ‘low cost’ market as a paying customer ever again.
It’s a well known situation, a Ryanair low on fuel.
I’ve been almost 25 years flying for the same airline, all over the world, and I can’t recall a single issue with fuel. And yes, we had a bunch of airplanes the very same day operating in and out of Madrid during the storm.
Of course, we’re not low cost, but are one of the most efficient airlines in Europe.
You get what you pay for. You know what you play with…