Irish airline Ryanair has admitted that three of its planes issued Mayday calls within minutes of each other after running low on fuel.
The budget carrier has confirmed reports that the three planes had to make emergency landings at Valencia airport in Spain two weeks ago.
The flights were diverted to the airport after thunderstorms in Madrid.
Pilots on the three planes had to call mayday emergencies because of low fuel with two of the calls made within three minutes of each other.
The Ryanair flights were given priority to land at Valencia, an hour south of Madrid, after the emergency calls.
Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara confirmed the low-fuel emergencies to the Sunday Independent newspaper.
He said: “Due to thunderstorms over Madrid on Thursday (July 26), Spanish ATC (air traffic control) instructed Ryanair aircraft to divert to Valencia where they were placed in a hold pattern.
“Sometime later the aircraft advised ATC that they would not have sufficient fuel reserves to return to Madrid and were permitted to land in Valencia.
“All aircraft landed normally. Ryanair sincerely apologises to the passengers affected by these diversions, which were due to adverse weather.”
The paper also reports on voice recordings of a conversation between a Ryanair pilot and air traffic control in Valencia.
It says 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.
The report states that the issue of how much fuel flight commanders on Ryanair aircraft are allowed to carry has been part of an efficiency drive at the budget airline.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.merefalow | Aug 14, 2012, 08:08 PM EDT
SCARY STUFF,thinking you are limited to a schedule and any unforseen diversion can cause you to run out of fuel.bit of dramatized reporting here though,the incidents of aircraft actually running out are very rare.
WoundedKnee | Aug 14, 2012, 10:08 AM EDT
Irishpjk: Thank you for that information. While I do not for a second claim to be an expert in these matters, it is pretty obvious that the ground handlers bear responsibility as well as the guys in the cockpit. Indeed I seem to remember that Avianca sued the FAA and had a partial victory. I accept that the primary culpability lies with the cockpit crew, they were too passive and gentlemanly at a time that called for shouting and expletives.
irishpjk | Aug 13, 2012, 10:44 PM EDT
Avianca was under the control of New York approach TRACON, some of the best controllers in the world. From there they would be handed off to JFK, no slouches there either.
WoundedKnee | Aug 13, 2012, 01:05 PM EDT
irishpjk: So who was controlling the Avianca flight?
Nicopernicus | Aug 13, 2012, 07:31 AM EDT
Another hype story that is insignificant in Aviation circles. Unusual that it affected three of the same airline is about it but not hardly newsworthy,. chalk it up as sensationalized journalism looking for the reaction. If the average and uninformed new the reality this story...it becomes a non event.
irishpjk | Aug 13, 2012, 03:53 AM EDT
wtf It makes me wonder when I read comments that let you know the writer knows nothing about the subject at hand yet will name call and place blame. When an aircraft runs out of fuel without any mechanical faults it is the crews fault. The controller on the ground will have no way of knowing how long fuel onboard will last, he must be told, hinting that you don’t have much fuel is a tactic some pilots use hoping to get down a little quicker. So declare your emergence and they will bring you down. By the way the Avianca flight over long Island had not been handed off to JFK so he was not under their control.
Silling | Aug 13, 2012, 02:50 AM EDT
M'Aidez as in Me Aidez or Aidez moi = Help Me. Mayday is a bank holiday in Spain, no aviation fuel for sale. Not a good call. But for Searlit, Aer Lingus is a dangerous airline and the sky would be a safer place without them. Remember Tusker Rock, a broad daylight head on collision with a light house and everyone killed. Ryan Air and Qantas have the two best records in aviation.
cillowen | Aug 12, 2012, 10:53 PM EDT
stay of those nigh free bees
Searlit | Aug 12, 2012, 04:42 PM EDT
I hope Ryanair doesn't takeover Aer Lingus.
WoundedKnee | Aug 12, 2012, 02:19 PM EDT
There was sad case a decade or two ago when an Avianca plane coming up from Colombia met a series of delays, bad weather induced mostly. Plus they were being handled by an incompetent flight controller, out of JFK (?). The Avianca crew were at fault also for not screaming EMERGENCY and throwing in a few expletives to wake up the dopey flight controller. The result of all of this? The plane ran out of fuel and came down in Long Island.
Searlit | Aug 12, 2012, 12:57 PM EDT
As if everyone doesn't have enough to worry about these days. Ryanair feels comfortable frightening passengers away.
WoundedKnee | Aug 12, 2012, 10:43 AM EDT
As a counterpoint, it's worth pointing out that despite being the biggest or at least one of the biggest airlines in the world, with more flights per day than just about anyone else, and definitely more landings and take-offs than anyone else, RyanAir has never had a fatality or even serious injury.
irishpjk | Aug 12, 2012, 10:42 AM EDT
wtf Not unusual in bad weather to have pilots declare low fuel emergence after being diverted and put on hold, you can only hold for so long then it’s time to declare. It becomes a problem when a pilot decides to stay in hold until he is too low on fuel to land somewhere else. Regulations require pilots to carry a fuel load that will give them a certain amount of hold time at their destination, plus enough to reach their required alternate airport and arrive over the field with a certain amount fuel remaining. Some pilots add a little more fuel just in case, but takeoff and landing fuel loads will limit how much leeway they have with that option. Smart pilots declare and land safely, which is what seems to be the case here, all declared emergences are investigated.
bonjouryall | Aug 12, 2012, 10:36 AM EDT
I'm sure an accountant precisely calculated the normal amount of fuel these trips should have taken. And I suppose now those pilots will now be investigated by the company for wasting their fuel and potentially placing passengers at risk.