AN ALERT air traffic controller at Shannon Airport intervened to prevent a luxury corporate jet crashing into mountains in Co Kerry.
At one stage the Gulfstream IV SP was flying at just 213m – heading directly for mountains over 700m, just 10km away.
The pilot and his first officer had no visible display of high terrain in their vicinity and had suffered a “serious loss of situational awareness” because they were dealing with a cracked windscreen, a report by the Air Accident Investigation Unit concluded.
The aircraft was only carrying one passenger and was en route from Kerry Airport to Luton Airport when the incident occurred on July 13th last year. The 10-year-old Gulfstream, which is built for long-range travel, had just taken off from Kerry Airport when the captain reported that the windshield had cracked.
The aircraft suffered further navigational difficulties before returning to Kerry Airport 28 minutes after it took off.
The unit’s report found there was confusion between the captain and his first officer. The captain admitted after the flight that their response had been inadequate and that he had not received the support he should have from his co-pilot, and effectively ended up flying solo.
The investigation found the first officer had only completed 1.4 hours’ flying in the previous 28 days and was ill-prepared to deal with the emergency.
It concluded that the Gulfstream suffered serious damage to one of its engines from an unidentified object. The cracked windscreen was caused by an electrical fault, the report concluded. However, there was no connection between the windscreen failure and the engine damage.
The report recommended Kerry Airport should be fitted with radar to support the air traffic control service provided by Kerry Air Traffic Services. The dangerous altitude of the aircraft was picked up by Shannon controller.
A spokeswoman for the investigation said while no formal response had been received, Kerry Airport “have been and continue to be in active communication with the Irish Aviation Authority regarding the safety recommendation”.