In December last year, a Ryanair plane was under investigation by British authorities after it “sinked” during a flight. The case concerns a Boeing 737 MAX 200, a high-density version of the 737 MAX 8, which landed at Stansted Airport, in London, from Klagenfurt, Austria, on 4 December 2023.
Due to the destabilizing approach, the crew ended up diving, but they let the plane sink too much, with the rate of descent reaching 8,832 feet (about 2,692 meters) per minute according to data from FlightRadar24, and confirmed by the AAIB, a British body that investigates aviation accidents and incidents.
This body told the portal Any News What “We cannot provide any details at this time as this serious incident is still under investigation, but we can report that the aircraft landed safely and no one was injured. The investigation is nearing completion and is scheduled to be published sometime in the fall.
The condition was classified as a bust level, which in aviation definition is an event in which the aircraft is 300 feet (about 91 meters) above or below the altitude issued or permitted by air traffic control.
Ryanair said in an official memo that the incident was a “destabilising approach” and that the crew had scrambled and landed safely on the second landing attempt. The airline itself has taken the case to the AAIB. But Ryanair has not said why the aircraft, registered EI-HET, was grounded for two days after the incident.
