St. Andrew feast in Pescara got disrupted. A Boeing airplane operated by the Irish airline Ryanair suddenly got face-to-face with the fireworks which quickly altered its course.
The airplane was heading towards the "D'Abruzzo" air station with 50 people on board. A gathering of thousands of people in the celebration fireworks struck frightened.
Matteo Silvestri, captain of Pescara fire brigade says, "A disaster could have happened- When fireworks are being shot, the airport should be informed in time and I don't know whether this was done or not in this case".
The airport authorities disagree with the argument and oppose stating: "The turn of the Ryanair airplane coming from Frankfurt is a usual manoeuvre that all carriers make when the weather is windy. The airplanes coming from the sea prefer to make a 180 degree turn to land on runway 04 towards the sea with the wind behind, instead of landing keeping the direction towards the mounts. This manoeuvre is called, in jargon, Cicling, a kind of U-turn"
Defusing the controversial debate, the pilot of the Ryanair flight FR-6726 confirmed, "The turn is due to a well definite landing manoeuvre, regardless of the fireworks".
Similar guarantees were given by Gianfranco Stromei, Account Manager of SAGA (Pescara airport's management society). He said, " However, some rumours arise from the control tower since it seems the fireworks were not announced in time to give communication to the airplanes arriving on that route".
