Description

On 4 June 2006, a Boeing 737-800 being operated by Ryanair on a passenger flight from London Stansted to Cork became too high to land off a day visual approach and requested a right hand orbit to reposition. This positioning was flown too close to terrain with GPWS/TAWS alert triggered prior to a second approach to a successful landing.

Investigation

The Irish AAIU was not advised of this event at the time and did not find out about it until contacted by the Operator 9 days later at which point an Investigation was commenced. It was established that the aircraft commander, with good aircraft type experience, had been PF.

The break to the right off the first approach was found to have initially been made at at the prescribed minimum manoeuvring altitude of 1100 feet QNH (equivalent to 600 feet aal) but altitude was then gradually lost during this orbit. The lowest altitude recorded was 553 feet QNH (51 feet aal) although, because some of the terrain around the airport was considerably lower than the airport elevation, the actual minimum height above terrain recorded by the radio altimeter was 425 feet agl. When it became visually obvious to the flight crew that the aircraft was well below the appropriate vertical approach profile, a climb was initiated to a height from which a safe landing was ultimately effected.

The Investigation noted that: