Air Transport

Ryanair has identified the Boeing 737-800 involved in a depressurisation incident late yesterday as a five-year old example, adding that the twin-jet was serviced a month ago.

The Irish Air Accidents Investigation Unit has given the registration of the aircraft as EI-DAS.

Flight's ACAS database says the aircraft, serial number 33553, is owned by the Irish budget airline and had accumulated over 17,300 hours in more than 11,600 cycles.

The 737 had been operating Bristol-Girona as flight FR9336 when it suffered the depressurisation and diverted to Limoges in France, touching down at 23:30.

Sixteen of the 168 passengers on board were transferred to a local hospital with ear complaints.

Ryanair says the aircraft was last serviced on 24 July, and stresses that the oxygen system on board the jet was operating correctly. It adds that the captain of the aircraft has over 13,400h flight experience.

• David Learmount provides the lowdown on decompression air scares and other such events ...