The hospital said that on the day in question, all the necessary equipment was assembled and within 15 minutes of being informed, the Casualty Department was ready to deal with an influx of seriously injured accident victims.

The hospital said that in this particular case, the hospital was ready to cope with the potential disaster while the aircraft was still flying.

In a counter-statement, Dr Farrugia said that the department had not denied that some of the equipment that could have been needed was being held in stores and that a certain amount of time was needed to assemble it.