The captain of a Ryanair Boeing 737, whose plane was involved in a serious incident near Rome during stormy weather, was determined to be psychologically unfit to fly the plane, according to air accident investigators in Italy. They further determined that the co-pilot, who was inexperienced in flying in severe weather conditions, was not able to properly navigate the aircraft.
Just a few days prior to the incident, the captain had reportedly attended his infant son’s funeral, and he told the incident investigators that he hadn’t taken more leave as he feared it might cost him his job.
In attempting to land at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, the pilot got lost, after earlier aborting an attempt to land at Ciampino Airport, also near Rome, during a thunderstorm.
To prevent a possible mid-air collision with another aircraft, air traffic controllers had to intervene after the Ryanair jet failed to receive their instructions, or ignored them, the investigators’ report indicated.
At one point during the incident, the Ryanair plane flew at an altitude of just 450ft above the ground, at a speed of over 322km/h, and also descended to an unsafe altitude in a hilly area. At another stage, the pilot had been instructed by air traffic controllers to turn the plane to the right, but kept on flying straight.