A Ryanair pilot on his first flight with the airline made an emergency landing at Charleroi Airport in Belgium after the captain became unconscious just after take off.
Shortly before departure the captain, who suffered a heart attack, had been seen having animated conversations about his terms and conditions of employment, according to an official report published yesterday.
The captain suffered from high blood pressure and, because of this, was allowed to fly only as a co-pilot for a period in the past.
This restriction was lifted, however, in August 2000 and he had been taking medication to control the problem, the report said.
Although a doctor on board the aircraft thought the captain was dead, he survived the incident. He remains seriously ill, however, in a nursing home near his residence, which is in Ireland.
The dramatic circumstances surrounding the flight, which took off from Charleroi on September 13th, 2002, are outlined in the report of the Department of Transport's air accident investigation unit (AAIU).
The plane, a Boeing 737 which was scheduled to fly to Stansted Airport in Britain, had 137 passengers and six crew on board.
Before take-off, a problem arose when the first officer rostered for the flight became delayed in traffic. Another first officer was asked to change duties and act as co-pilot on the Charleroi-Stansted flight.
It was this pilot's first Ryanair flight following his training, but he had been a Boeing 737 captain with a previous employer.
The aircraft took off at 2.27 p.m. and as it approached approximately 8,000 feet, the first officer looked across and noticed that the captain's head was to one side and he looked "completely white", the report said.
He tried to speak to the captain but got no response.
The first officer then took control of the aircraft, advised Brussels air traffic control of the situation and requested permission to turn back to Charleroi.
As he prepared to make an emergency landing, he called the senior cabin crew member to the cockpit. This crew member sent for an oxygen bottle and tried to gain the captain's attention, but to no avail.After the plane landed, the cabin crew member asked if there was a doctor on board, and a husband and wife team went to the cockpit.
"The \ doctor opinioned that the captain was dead but that he should be removed from his seat and stretched out on the aircraft floor," the report said.
Attempts to resuscitate the pilot proved successful after some time and he was removed to hospital in a critical condition.
Witnesses told how prior to the flight the captain had chatted with cabin crew and appeared to be in good form.
"The investigation has established that the captain telephoned a colleague in operations outlining some difficulties that he had concerning his terms and conditions of employment with the company," the report said.
"He also spoke to his wife about these matters.
"Both the operations officer and the captain's wife confirmed to the investigation that he had taken these matters routinely and that he was not angry or frustrated before the flight, merely disappointed and somewhat annoyed."
The report said the medical aspects of the case were notable in that the captain, who had a valid medical certificate, had been on medication for blood pressure for a period of years.
For about a year, between 1999 and 2000, he had had an endorsement on his licence because of his condition, allowing him to act "as or with a co-pilot" only. The endorsement was rescinded in August 2000.
Examination of the senior cabin crew member's file indicated that there had been an error between Ryanair's training and in-flight services departments.
The report recommended that Ryanair review the co-ordination between its training and in-flight departments to ensure rostered personnel were properly trained for their specific duties.
It also found, however, that the actions of the first officer, the cabin crew, the emergency services, air traffic control and the doctors on board had probably saved the captain's life.
In a statement, Ryanair said it fully agreed with the report's conclusions and had already implemented its recommendations.
