The head of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) accidentally sent an Aer Lingus captain – who claims he was “poisoned” by a fume leak – an internal email remarking on the pilot’s social media activity after a query about the reporting of the incident, a tribunal has heard.
Details of the correspondence were disclosed at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on Wednesday as the pilot, Tom O’Riordan, continued his evidence in his whistleblower penalisation case against the airline.
O’Riordan claims Aer Lingus knowingly endangered his life on June 5th, 2023, by directing him to fly an Airbus A320 jet, EI-DEN, on an empty flight from London to Dublin on that date.
He says he was “poisoned” by oil contaminating the cabin air and suffered a brain injury. “I thought I was going to die,” he told the WRC in his evidence this week.
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The airline strongly denies any passengers or crew, including O’Riordan, were put at risk.
The complainant had been engaged in an “awareness campaign” on X, Instagram and Facebook since March 2024 under the username “ToxicAer”, he said.
“Nothing was being done, so I had to inform the general public and the crew directly by the best means that I could,” O’Riordan said.
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O’Riordan’s evidence was that he hoped the Oireachtas would call a hearing on airliner fume events.
He said his petition was considered at a preliminary stage, but got no further.
O’Riordan’s social media posts prompted warnings from senior Aer Lingus managers, with disciplinary action following from March 2024, the WRC heard.
On July 12th, 2024, O’Riordan was facing a third and final set of disciplinary charges over the posts when he emailed the IAA’s head of flight operations, Pearse McCrann, seeking confirmation that Aer Lingus had submitted a report to the regulator concerning the flight, his barrister, David Byrnes, said.
At the hearing, Byrnes then opened the next email in the series received by his client, dated July 29th, 2024.
“Let’s see how long before he posts this online. This could be useful at the Oireachtas, as we could refute his incorrect assertion that Aer Lingus never reported it within time frame,” Byrnes said, quoting from the email.
O’Riordan said the author of the email was “Declan Fitzpatrick ... he’s CEO [chief executive] of the IAA”.
He wrote again the following month asking what was meant by the email – telling the regulators’ staff he considered it “alarming” and seeking an apology.
“Declan may well consider his position,” O’Riordan said in the email.
The WRC heard Fitzpatrick replied on August 8th, saying: “Dear Tom, you were not the intended recipient of this email, which was sent to you in error.”
The CEO also said the IAA was continuing to investigate O’Riordan’s protected disclosure and that McCrann would respond “in due course”.
O’Riordan said he had yet to hear further on the matter. He was dismissed that month, with the sanction confirmed on appeal.
Tom Mallon, for Aer Lingus, has said the airline was entitled to dismiss O’Riordan on foot of the disciplinary findings. O’Riordan’s case is he was shielded by whistleblower law.
The hearing continues.
