Experts Call For Answers After Boeing 737-800 Diverts To Genoa

Aviation law experts representing passengers injured when a Ryanair flight last year dropped 20,000ft following cabin pressure problems have revealed their serious concerns following another similar incident this week which reportedly left at least two people injured.

The Boeing 737-800 from Valencia, Spain to Bergamo in Italy was diverted to Cristoforo Colombo Airport in Genoa after instruments signalled possible cabin pressure issues.

Two women were taken to hospital following the incident, while engineers inspected the aircraft before returning it to service. Passengers on the flight were transferred to Bergamo via bus.

Irwin Mitchell represents a number of passengers injured in a similar incident in April last year, when a Ryanair flight involving Boeing 737-800 and travelling from Bergamo to East Midlands Airport was diverted to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport following serious cabin pressure problems, which led to an emergency descent.

An interim accident report revealed that a problem with a cabin pressure controller, as well as a design and maintenance error, was behind the incident.

Aviation lawyers at Irwin Mitchell have vast experience acting in numerous air accidents, and over the last six months have been instructed by passengers injured in three separate incidents involving cabin smoke and fumes onboard Boeing aircraft - two Thomas Cook flights at Glasgow and Dublin and a Jet2 flight, also at Glasgow.

Former RAF Boeing AWACS pilot Jim Morris, a Partner in the aviation law practice, said: “To see another incident of this nature on a Ryanair-operated Boeing aircraft occur so soon after the previous cabin pressure incident is clearly a significant concern that needs to be fully investigated.

We hope that there will be a prompt accident report and urge the operator and Boeing to carefully consider all aspects of this incident and take appropriate measures to prevent it from happening again.

“Cabin pressure control is fundamental to providing passengers and crew with sufficient oxygen when flying at airliner cruising altitudes (normally 25,000 - 40,000 feet), so the impact of failings of this nature simply cannot be underestimated. In the cases we are involved in, we have seen how traumatic incidents of this kind can leave people with lasting physical and psychological symptoms.

“We are very hopeful that lessons can be learned from this and the previous case to ensure that everything is possible is done to improve flight safety.”