An investigation has been launched into an incident that occurred aboard a Ryanair flight late last year, it was confirmed last night.
The Department of Transport said its air accident investigation unit would inquire into the circumstances in which a Ryanair pilot suffered a breakdown in the cockpit as his flight approached Rome's Ciampino airport in September 2005.
Ryanair said the pilot had suffered a bereavement days before the incident, and the company had put in place a new policy of standing down pilots for safety reasons following bereavements.
The department said Italian aviation authorities had not been notified when the incident occurred.
However, a spokeswoman for Ryanair said last night that the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) had been notified at the time, while a detailed internal investigation was carried out and its findings approved by the IAA.