Ryanair rejects allegations of unsafe practices

Allegations of unsafe practices at Ryanair made in an undercover British television documentary are "untrue" and of "no substance", Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has said.

The Dispatches documentary, to be shown on Channel 4 on Monday night, will show scenes of security lapses, dirty aircraft and overworked pilots and cabin crew, according to the programme makers.

The documentary contains footage secretly filmed over five months by undercover reporters Charlotte Smith and Mary Nash who secured jobs as cabin crew with Ryanair last year.

A letter sent to Mr O'Leary in January by the programme makers, Steve Boulton Productions, alleges that both reporters uncovered breaches of safety and security, improper staff training, crew and pilot fatigue, including crew falling asleep on duty, and a "cynical" attitude to passenger welfare.

Smith claims that during training her class was told that in the event of a crash a person who sits in seat 1A on a Ryanair aircraft will "probably die on impact" because a protruding piece of metal used to attach a stairs handrail would go straight into their head.

Both reporters said trainees were routinely not given the three days on-board training specified in the Ryanair manual before starting work.

Ms Nash said she was asked to carry out critical boarding gate security checks that she did not have adequate training for on her second day of flying.

Vomit was discovered on the floor during one flight and could not be properly cleaned because of the time constraints of the 25-minute turnaround. The reporter's superior suggested that she spray aftershave to disguise the smell.

Smith said a fault indictor showed on an emergency exit door, but the fault was not remedied before take-off.

The programme makers say there is footage of cabin crew falling asleep on duty, and that crew worked 10 hours a day for five to six consecutive days.

One pilot told one of the reporters that if he refused to fly because he was tired he would "probably be fired and definitely demoted".

In response to the programme maker's letter, Mr O'Leary said many of their claims were "entirely spurious" or "factually untrue".

The handrail attachment, identified by the tutor as a potential killer, was on aircraft no longer used by Ryanair, but had been approved by the British and American authorities, Mr O'Leary said.

However the tutor's claim was "ludicrous" and there was never any risk to a passenger in the 1A seat.

He said the aircraft the reporters were working on required two, not three days, on-board training.

The passenger check carried out by Nash was a "simple" check to see if the boarding card name matched the passport and "requires only the ability to read".

He said there was nothing to substantiate the claim of vomit on an aircraft or that there was a fault on the door slide of the emergency exit.

Cabin crew and pilots adhered to the legal working hours, and the pilot's claim that he might be fired was "without foundation".

Mr O'Leary will not be appearing in the programme. He said he offered to give an interview as long it was not edited, but his offer was not taken up by the programme makers.

Channel 4 yesterday said it had offered Mr O'Leary an interview that would fairly reflect Ryanair's position, but it was not logistically possible to use an unedited interview.