Flybe staff members' 'high workload' has been blamed for an alarming incident on board an Edinburgh-bound flight in September.
The flight - which was carrying 70 passengers and four crew - set off from Belfast to Edinburgh Airport on 21 September 2018, but sent a mayday shortly after take-off due to the plane failing to pressurise, which in turn caused cabin altitude warnings to sound.
The source of the issue was a problem with the Flybe vessel's air conditioning system, which had been turned off during a previous flight after overheating made passengers and staff feel uncomfortable.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said those previous problems with the temperature control system had not been recorded in a paper log on board the Flybe aircraft, meaning crew members were unaware of the issue.
During preparations for the flight the commander started to reset the air conditioning system but was interrupted by a catering issue- a lack of drinking water for crew members - and did not finish the procedure before take-off from Belfast.
The report says both pilots returned to their stations and were keen to depart on time, but their workload was now "significantly above the norm". As the AC had been left turned off, the plane didn't pressurise and the cabin altitude warning sounded shortly after they reached a cruising altitude of 10,000ft.
A mayday was declared but the crew then noticed the air conditioning system was not operating, so they switched it on and the aircraft stabilised near Glasgow.
The company wanted the flight to continue to Edinburgh and it arrived at 6.55pm on September 21 last year.
AAIB said in its report: "The effectiveness of the crew's actions was reduced by the high workload resulting from operational factors and by their attempts to deal with the symptoms of a technical issue with the aircraft, which had not been communicated to them."
A Flybe spokeswoman said: "We thank the AAIB for concluding its investigation and report on the incident which took place on September 21, 2018.
"Flybe can confirm that a number of actions have since been incorporated into our systems and procedures to ensure that the chances of such an event reoccurring are significantly minimised."
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