Ryanair has initiated High Court defamation proceedings against a pilot who appeared in a documentary which made allegations about its safety practices.
The airline today began the action against Captain John Goss in the High Court in Dublin, lawyer Paul Tweed of Johnson solicitors said in a statement.
The move follows the broadcast last week of a Channel 4 Dispatches programme which claimed Ryanair pilots were being put under pressure to fly with minimum fuel loads, an allegation the airline denies.
In a statement, Mr Tweed said Ryanair issued the proceedings following what it called โ serious defamatory commentsโ by Capt Goss during the broadcast, which it said โimpugned the integrity of the Irish aviation safety agencies and by extension questioned Ryanairโs industry-leading safety recordโ.
The airline sacked Capt Goss last week. He had been due to retire in October. In the programme, he made allegations about several aspects of the airlineโs safety culture.
Mr Tweed said the pilot had failed to provide Ryanair with โany acceptable explanationโ as to why he appeared on the programme โjust weeks after he confirmed in writing (July 10th) that he had no concerns regarding Ryanairโs safety.โ
He argued there were โextremely serious implicationsโ arising from Capt Gossโs comments which were โextensively reportedโ as questioning Ryanairโs safety procedures.
The legal firm had been instructed to โvigorously pursueโ the action with a view to โobtaining total vindicationโ from the pilot of โRyanairโs industry leading safety which has been independently verified as being on a par with the safest airlines in Europe,โ the statement said.
Last week, the airline initiated defamation proceedings against Channel 4 and Blakeway Productions, which produces Dispatches; Associated Newspapers which owns the MailOnline; and the Mirror Group, publisher of the Daily Mirror.
The Ryanair Pilot Group (RPG) last week accused of the airline of trying to โsuppress discussionโ about airline safety after it sacked Capt Goss.
WHAT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS ARTICLE:
- The legal firm had been instructed to โvigorously pursueโ the action with a view to โobtaining total vindicationโ from the pilot of โRyanair's industry leading safety which has been independently verified as being on a par with the safest airlines in Europe,โ the statement said.
- In a statement, Mr Tweed said Ryanair issued the proceedings following what it called โ serious defamatory commentsโ by Capt Goss during the broadcast, which it said โimpugned the integrity of the Irish aviation safety agencies and by extension questioned Ryanair's industry-leading safety recordโ.
- Mr Tweed said the pilot had failed to provide Ryanair with โany acceptable explanationโ as to why he appeared on the programme โjust weeks after he confirmed in writing (July 10th) that he had no concerns regarding Ryanair's safety.