Without Correct Maps, Eirjet Pilots Lands at Army Base

An investigation into why an Eirjet pilot landed at an Army base last March instead of Derry airport has found he was flying without charts and felt pressurised because a train was coming towards the runway.

In a report released this week, the Air Accident Investigation Branch found that the pilot of Eirjet flight FR9884, flown on behalf of Ryanair from Liverpool to Derry, had "tried in vain" for three days before the embarrassing incident on March 29 last year to get charts for the air-field.

The pilot told investigators he had also felt a "slight sense of urgency" from Air Traffic Control in Derry because a train was coming along the track which crosses the start of the runway.

Inbound aircraft are, in fact, sequenced to avoid trains.

Another contributing factor was that the pilot landed the flight manually, without using instruments, because he mistakenly thought they were faulty.

Among a number of other revelations, the report disclosed that the air traffic control tower at Derry Airport closes down when the controller needs a break, although that was not a factor in the debacle of last March.

It also emerged that pilots have reported that the main runway "is very difficult to see from a distance".

Some of the 39 passengers of the flight told reporters on the day that they were "shocked" to see soldiers running towards their plane when they touched down. They had landed at Ballykelly Army base, six miles from Derry airport but on an almost identical heading to a pilot.

Aircraft steps had to be transported from City of Derry Airport to Ballykelly to get the passengers off and into a coach.

Nobody was injured and Ryanair turned the embarrassment into a publicity drive for a free seat sale, while poking fun at Eirjet. In a section titled 'Operating Crew's comments', the report reads: "For three days prior to the flight the commander tried in vain to obtain a copy of the LDY (Londonderry) airfield charts, through the LPL (Liverpool) operations office and another service provider.

This was to be fully prepared for the flight into this limiting airfield.

"However, he did obtain a copy of these charts the day after the incident and stated that, had he seen these previously, he would have been fully aware of the existence of BKY and would not have landed there."

In the final analysis, the AAIB report says: "Not being aware that there was another airfield in the vicinity with a very similar layout, and misbelieving the Instrument Landing Sysytem glidescope wand DME indications, the crew continued towards the only airfield they could see, firmly convinced they were landing at Derry."

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