Ryanair pilots have been told they will be sacked if they continue to approach landing strips dangerously.
There have been three incidents in less than 12 months where Ryanair planes have come to airports too fast or at the wrong height and had to abort landing.
Now it has emerged that Michael O’Leary, chief executive of the budget airline, has written to all his pilots telling them they will be sacked the second time they do this.
“Any event involving any of our aircraft passing the 500ft landing gate incorrectly configured or at excessive speed… will automatically lead to both crew members being denoted in the case of their first transgression of the policy,” O’Leary wrote. “In the event of a second transgression of this policy, the relevant crew member will be automatically dismissed.”
Ryanair asks its pilots to perform ‘go-arounds’ when they realise they are coming in too fast or too high to land safely. A go-around involves over-shooting the airport, climbing to 3,000ft and beginning a new approach.
But with pilots under pressure to meet 25-minute turnaround times – the tightest in the industry – they have sometimes come in to land from dangerous positions, causing warning systems to switch on in the cockpit.
