An air safety expert has told the High Court that the approach of an Aer Lingus flight, which allegedly made a heavy landing and an excessively fast descent at Dublin Airport, was unstable for six seconds before it touched down.
Former pilot Fintan Ryan said that, in those six seconds, a decision could have been made to go around to try and land again.
Mr Ryan was giving evidence on the third day of an action where it is claimed that flight EI582 from Malaga to Dublin in November 2009 landed in a heavy, dramatic fashion, with an alleged inappropriate and excessive rate of descent.
Cassandra Reddin (33),Woodlands Manor, Ratoath, Co Meath, then working as a flight attendant for Aer Lingus, is suing the airline over back and neck injuries allegedly suffered when the flight landed at Dublin Airport on November 19th, 2009.
She alleges that a co-pilot failed to adequately supervise the landing of the plane.
She claims that she suffered soft tissue neck and back injuries and whiplash as a result of the incident.
She also claims that she had nightmares afterwards where she woke up screaming.
Aer Lingus denies all of the claims.
‘Bounced’
In his evidence, Mr Ryan said that when the plane “bounced” during landing, that was the second opportunity to make a decision to go around to attempt to land again.
Mr Ryan said there is a crosswind phenomenon at Dublin Airport and, when it is turbulent, managing an aeroplane there is a full-time job.
He said that where there is a bounce in a crosswind, a plane can be “like a leaf flowing in the wind” until it gets on the ground.
He said that, given the conditions with gusty wind, the aircraft should have had a rate of descent of about 500 to 600 ft per minute .
However, 16 ft above the runway, the plane’s rate of descent was 1,400 ft per minute, when it should have been reducing to 300 to 400 ft per minute.
Mr Ryan said: “It was inevitable it was going to be a firm landing.”
The court was also told that the pilot of the Airbus A320 had, in her air safety report 19 days after the flight, referred to a heavy landing.
She had said that the aircraft bounced on landing and settled back on the runway.
Finbarr Fox SC, for Ms Reddin, said Aer Lingus contends the plane did not bounce, the rate of descent was “a momentary blip” and a sudden gust of wind as the aircraft landed gave the plane its unusual landing.
The case continues before Mr Justice Michael Hanna.
