An Aer Lingus aircraft with company chairman Mr Bernie Cahill on board had to take evasive action at Dublin Airport yesterday when the pilot saw a Ryanair aircraft on the runway as he came in to land.
The Ryanair aircraft could not make contact with the air traffic control tower and was unable to get clearance to take off.
Aer Lingus initially denied there was any aircraft on the ground but later admitted there must have been after the Irish Aviation Authority confirmed the details to The Irish Times.
Passengers on the EI132 flight from Boston reported that the aircraft appeared to be within 10 metres of landing when it swooped upwards again. The pilot then told the passengers that another plane was on the runway.
"There was nothing on the runway," an Aer Lingus spokeswoman said when first contacted. "The pilot did a `go-around' but that was purely procedural."
Later an Aer Lingus spokesman said while he could not definitively say the Ryanair aircraft was on the runway, he accepted the report.
A spokeswoman for the IAA said the tower frequency was blocked and so the Ryanair pilot could not get clearance for take-off.
Noting the problem, the Aer Lingus pilot made contact with ground control and was instructed to do a "go-around" until clearance to land was given.
"It was absolutely normal to do a go-around in circumstances like this," the IAA spokeswoman said. However, she said, the blocking of the frequency from the tower was not normal.
Irish Times journalist Orna Mulcahy was on the flight and said it seemed as if the aircraft had almost landed when it took off again. "We were at about roof level of a house when up it swooped," she said.
