Safety check failure led to Ryanair crew member's leg break

The crew member tried to protect himself from a rolling trolley by raising his knees towards his chest, a report found

Staff on a Ryanair flight failed to carry out proper safety checks, causing a cabin crew member to suffer a broken leg, an air accident report has found.

A catering trolley came loose as the plane was landing, it then rolled down the central aisle and hit the crew member.

The flight, from Cologne to Stansted Airport, had no passengers aboard.

A spokeswoman for Ryanair said: "We have noted this report which contains no safety recommendations."

If the injured cabin crew member had been sitting in his allocated place "he might have seen the catering cart become insecure and been able to prevent it from moving," the Air Accidents Investigation Branch report said.

Unaware of injury

The crew member, who had seen the cart heading towards him, tried to protect himself from the impact by raising his knees towards his chest.

It hit him, breaking his left femur and causing a minor hand injury, the report said.

He was initially unaware of his broken leg, and collapsed after attempting to stand up, blocking the main entrance to the aircraft and delaying access for emergency crews.

An engineering check found no fault with the catering cart's latching system.

The report said a memo was sent to all Ryanair staff reminding them of cabin procedures.

Two pilots and four cabin crew were aboard the aircraft, which had been diverted from Eindhoven to Cologne and was returning to Stansted without any passengers.