Ryanair has sacked a pilot and issued legal proceedings against him after he appeared in a documentary which questioned the airline's safety.
Captain John Goss featured on Ryanair: Secrets from the Cockpit, which was screened earlier this week.
In the broadcast, Goss said he received a critical letter for using too much fuel and claimed many Ryanair pilots did not have confidence in the safety reporting systems of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), Reuters reports.
Ryanair has sacked Captain John Goss after he appeared in a Channel 4 Dispatches programme about safety (file picture)
Goss, who had been with Ryanair for 27 years, told the programme: "My personal belief is that the majority of Ryanair pilots do not have confidence in the safety agencies and that is a pretty critical issue."
Ryanair has also instructed lawyers to take action against Channel 4's Dispatches over the allegations made in the documentary, The Guardian revealed.
The newspaper adds Goss was expected to retire in October this year.
In a statement issued to the Irish Times on Wednesday, the airline said: "Ryanair's safety has recently been confirmed by the Irish Aviation Authority as being 'on a par with the safest airlines in Europe'.
"It is delivered on a daily basis by over 9,000 outstanding aviation professionals whose commitment to safety is absolute.
"We will not allow a Ryanair employee to defame our safety on national television just three weeks after he confirmed in writing to Ryanair that he had no concerns with safety and no reason to make any confidential safety report to either the IAA or Ryanair.
"We look forward to correcting Mr Goss's defamatory claims in court in due course, but will not be commenting further on this issue which is now the subject of legal proceedings."
Ryanair has published its full exchange of letters with Channel 4 Dispatches online.
The airline hit the headlines earlier this week when it refused to refund a man the airfare for his now deceased mother.
Ryanair subsequently apologised to Doug Parsons, informing him he had received an "incorrect" reply to his request for a refund for his £230 airfare for his mother to Fuerteventura in October. Beryl Parsons died in June, after a long struggle with cancer.