Boeing 737 Max dives 2,000ft in 17 seconds on Ryanair flight to London

A ‘serious incident’ was declared after a Ryanair plane suddenly dropped 2,000ft in 17 seconds (Picture: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A Ryanair flight plummeted more than 2,000ft at high speed in just 17 seconds as it came in to land, an investigation has found.

The Boeing 737 Max airliner was in the final stages of its descent into London Stansted Airport when it suddenly plunged on December 4 last year.

Ryanair said the sharp downward dive was ‘a case of an unstable approach‘ and pilots were forced to circle around again before landing successfully at the second time of asking. 

But the air accident watchdog declared it a ‘serious incident’ and is carrying out an investigation. 

Data showed the aircraft fell at a rate of more than 8,000ft per minute, even though it was already flying at a low altitude.

The incident happened during a two-hour flight from Klagenfurt in Austria to the capital.

Nobody on board the 197-seat plane was reported to have been hurt.

The Boeing 737 Max was coming into land at London Stansted Airport when it rapidly dived downwards (Picture: Getty Images Europe)

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said in its log that the jet experienced a ‘high speed and high nose down pitch attitude’, which effectively means it suddenly began flying downwards on a steep trajectory. 

This happened during the ‘go-around’, according to the AAIB, which is when a plane is approaching the runway but the pilots abort the landing.

They then crank the engines to full power to begin climbing upwards again before circling around the airport and carrying out another landing attempt. 

Data from the journey, recorded by Flightradar24, shows the aircraft descended at a steady rate to 2,350ft before appearing to abort the landing and performing a go-around.

The aircraft eventually landed safely but the flight is the subject of an investigation by the air accidents watchdog (Picture: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

Shortly after, the aircraft’s altitude suddenly dropped from 4,425ft to 2,300ft in just 17 seconds, while its speed also increased drastically from 226mph to 321mph.

Its altitude then steadied and the plane landed successfully around 10 minutes later, i reports. 

According to Ireland’s Air Accident Investigation Unit, which is assisting the AAIB probe, the flight also involved a ‘level bust’, whereby an aircraft flies at least 300ft below or above the altitude instructed by air traffic control. 

It’s not yet known what caused the aircraft to plunge suddenly, however the plane involved, which usually flies five or six times a day, did not fly again for two days after, according to flight records. 

Ryanair said the incident was a case of an ‘unstable approach’ (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A Ryanair spokesman said of the incident: ‘This was a case of an unstable approach. The crew performed a “go around” and landed normally on the second approach in line with Ryanair procedure. 

‘Ryanair reported this matter to the AAIB in compliance with our operating manual and we have provided full details to, and are cooperating fully with, this routine AAIB investigation. We can make no further comment until such time as the AAIB have completed their review of this flight.’

Metro.co.uk has contacted Boeing for comment.

Boeing’s litany of problems

It comes after Boeing has come under increasing scrutiny over fears about the safety of its aircraft, in particular the 737 Max series, due to a number of recent accidents and issues. 

In January this year, the aircraft model was involved in a near-disaster when a door panel ripped off at 16,000ft during an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, leaving a gaping hole in the fuselage.

Just last month, a Boeing 737 Max 8 dropped within 400ft of the ocean on a Southwest Airlines flight from Honolulu to Lihue airport in Kauai, Hawaii. 

It also emerged that a Boeing 737-800 operated by TUI nearly ran off the end of the runway at Bristol Airport earlier this year after a ‘software glitch’ disrupted its power controls.

The flight to Gran Canaria in March left the tarmac less than three seconds from the end and was found to be flying with ‘insufficient thrust to meet regulated performance’.

Two Boeing 737 Max airliners went into nosedives in separate crashes in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia, which killed 346 people collectively.

The aircraft manufacturer could still face prosecution in the US for alleged breaches of a legal settlement in relation to the incidents.

Outgoing Boeing CEO David Calhoun apologised to the families of the victims after coming face to face with them at a Senate hearing last week. 

Whistleblower Santiago Paredes, who worked for Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems in Kansas claims aeroplane parts regularly left the factory with ‘serious defects’.

He said he wouldn’t fly on a 737 Max plane.

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