In one of the most harrowing road death cases in recent UK aviation history, a 63-year-old HGV driver has been jailed for ten years for causing the deaths of two Ryanair pilots in a motorway smash on the M62 motorway near Liverpool, England on 11 July 2024. Captain Matthew “Matt” Greenhalgh, 28, and Senior First Officer Jamie Fernandes, 24, died when their taxi was struck from behind by a heavy goods vehicle while they were on their way to Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL), Merseyside.
The widow of Captain Greenhalgh, Hannah Greenhalgh, has delivered an emotional account of her grief in court (that was published in Daily Mail) as the accused, Anthony Burns, admitted causing two deaths and one serious injury by dangerous driving. The pilots were returning from duties that spanned more than seventeen hours, a schedule that has also reignited industry scrutiny on pilot fatigue and airline crew welfare.
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Airline name | Ryanair DAC |
| IATA code | FR |
| ICAO code | RYR |
| CALLSIGN | RYANAIR |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Commenced operations | 1985 |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
| Business model | Ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) |
| Fleet size | ~550 aircraft (as of 2025) |
| Aircraft types | Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-8200 “Gamechanger” |
| Average fleet age | ~9 years |
| Primary hubs | Dublin (DUB), London Stansted (STN), Milan Bergamo (BGY) |
| Network | 230+ airports across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East |
| Parent group | Ryanair Holdings plc |
| CEO | Michael O’Leary |
| Annual passengers (pre-incident baseline) | ~180 million |
Ryanair Digital Boarding Passes: 100% Paperless Travel Explained
What Happened on the M62 – Crash Details
The fatal collision occurred at approximately 05:31 BST on 11 July 2024 on the westbound carriageway of the M62 motorway between junctions 8 and 7 near Warrington in Cheshire, England. At the time, a stationary Toyota taxi was carrying:
- Ryanair flight crew — Captain Matthew “Matt” Greenhalgh, 28
- Senior First Officer Jamie Fernandes, 24
— en route to Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL) when an HGV driven by Anthony Burns, 63, failed to slow for queuing traffic, subsequently ploughing into the rear of the taxi and crushing it between two lorries.
[Note that Ryanair is one of the most successful low-cost carriers and has one of the largest fleets in 2026]
The force of the impact inflicted unsurvivable injuries on both pilots, who were pronounced dead at the scene, while the taxi driver sustained serious injuries including multiple fractures. CCTV evidence presented in court showed that Burns approached at approximately 56 mph, ignoring advisory matrix signs that reduced speeds to 50 mph and then 40 mph due to wet conditions and traffic congestion caused by an earlier incident, and applied his brakes only around one second before impact, leaving insufficient distance to avoid the collision.
The prosecution described the carnage as catastrophic, with the taxi rotated 180 degrees by the force of the crash before it came to rest.
Responsible party:
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Anthony Burns, 63, admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Sentence:
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10 years’ imprisonment; banned from driving for 150 months; compelled to pass an extended driving test before licence reinstatement.
Official commentary:
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Sergeant Russ Sime, Cheshire Police: “There were clear warnings for motorists… yet Burns failed to act which resulted in a tragic outcome that could have been avoided.”
Personal Loss: Widow’s Testimony
In Liverpool Crown Court, Hannah Greenhalgh narrated the agony of becoming a widow at just 27 years old, barely three months after marrying her husband in Las Vegas. She said:
“At 27, after three months’ marriage, I became a widow… I struggle to see how I can have a future after everything was taken from me.”
She described returning home on the morning of the crash waiting for a text from Matt — one that never came — which eventually led to frantic calls to hospitals before the police delivered the news.
Families of both pilots paid tribute, highlighting their passion for flying, sport, and life, and the devastating void left by their sudden loss.
The widow recalled that she had last seen her husband on 10 July, when he departed their home for duty, unaware it would be their final farewell. By the following morning, her growing unease hardened into alarm when a routine message from him failed to arrive, prompting what she later described as an instinctive sense that something was amiss.
Court evidence established that Captain Greenhalgh had operated a flight departing Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL) before repositioning an aircraft from Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI) to London Luton Airport (LTN), after which he and First Officer Jamie Fernandes entered a taxi for the return journey to their Liverpool base
The grieving words of the widow were published in Daily Mail:
“I started calling local hospitals because my sixth sense told me something wasn’t right. My worst fears were confirmed when police knocked at the door. It took me nine months to get Matt’s epaulettes back. His absence has left a void in this family that can never be filled. We mourn the future that was stolen from him and from us”.
UK law on causing death by dangerous driving
Under English law, causing death by dangerous driving is a grave offence with significant custodial penalties. In order to determine the culpability of the offenders involved in the accident, where there is a multiplicity of categories of culpability involved, The Sentencing Council of the UK says that ” the court should weigh those factors in order to decide which category most resembles the offender’s case“.
| Assessment criterion | Culpability category A | Culpability category B |
|---|---|---|
| Overall seriousness | Represents the most severe level of culpability, involving conduct that is overtly dangerous and demonstrates a clear disregard for the safety of others. | Reflects a serious but comparatively lesser degree of culpability, where dangerous driving is present without sustained or extreme recklessness. |
| Driver intent | Characterized by deliberate or conscious decisions to ignore traffic laws and accepted safety norms. | Typically involves poor judgement or negligence rather than a sustained or intentional breach of road safety rules. |
| Duration of behaviour | Often involves prolonged or persistent dangerous driving over a period of time. | May arise from isolated or shorter duration lapses rather than continuous misconduct. |
| Use of mobile devices | Prolonged or repeated use of a mobile phone or electronic device while driving, materially increasing risk. | Use of a mobile phone or device that does not reach the severity or duration required for Category A. |
| Speed and road conditions | Speed is grossly in excess of legal limits or manifestly unsafe given prevailing traffic, road, or weather conditions. | Speed is inappropriate for conditions but not to an extreme or sustained degree. |
| Impairment | Driving is heavily impaired by alcohol or drugs, indicating a high level of risk tolerance. | Driving is impaired by alcohol, drugs, fatigue, or a medical condition, but to a lesser extent than Category A. |
| Response to warnings | Demonstrates persistent disregard for warnings from other road users or traffic control measures. | May involve a failure to heed a warning, but without repeated or willful disregard. |
| Additional aggravating conduct | May include evading police, racing other vehicles, or knowingly engaging in exceptionally hazardous maneuvers. | May involve driving a dangerously defective or overloaded vehicle or operating while knowingly fatigued. |
| Judicial assessment | Courts view this category as warranting the highest sentencing starting points due to the magnitude of risk created. | Courts recognize substantial culpability but apply lower starting points than Category A, reflecting reduced gravity. |
A dangerous driving conviction carries a minimum driving ban and compulsory retest before the offender can legally drive again. The maximum penalty was enhanced from 14 years to life imprisonment after reforms in 2022 to align with modern sentencing principles.
Counsel for the defense, Mr Hayton, told the court that Burns had operated as a commercial driver for approximately three decades without any recorded road traffic accidents. Some of the other notable points about Burns are:
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He incurred three penalty points in 2021 after being found responsible for transporting a vehicle load deemed unsafe.
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Had 28 prior criminal convictions, the majority dating back to the 1980s and 1990s.
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His historical offences were arson and assault, for which he previously received suspended custodial sentences.
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In addition to the ten-year term of imprisonment, the court imposed a 150-month driving disqualification.
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Burns will also be required to successfully complete an extended driving re-test before any future application for a licence can be considered.
All in All
While the M62 collision was a road traffic incident, the fact that both pilots were returning from a 17-hour duty period has drawn scrutiny from aviation safety groups concerned about fatigue risk management. The Union Unite, which was responsible for organizing strike in London Heathrow during Christmas time, wants to know why they were not offered a hotel stopover.
A Ryanair source was quoted in a newspaper The Sun:
“It leaves a very bad taste that they were on the road in the early hours. Unite is worried cost cuts are making the working lives of staff dangerous.”