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Ryanair Flight 4978

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Ryanair Flight 4978
SP-RSM, the aircraft involved in the incident, photographed in 2019
Incident
Date23 May 2021 (2021-05-23)
SummaryFlight forced to land on the pretence of a bomb threat.
SiteMinsk National Airport
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 737-8AS
OperatorBuzz (Ryanair subsidiary)
IATA flight No.FR4978
ICAO flight No.RYR1TZ
Call signRYANAIR 1 TANGO ZULU
RegistrationSP-RSM
Flight originAthens International Airport
DestinationVilnius Airport
Occupants127
Passengers121
Crew6

Ryanair Flight 4978 was an international scheduled passenger flight on 23 May 2021 which, while in Belarusian airspace, was diverted by the Belarusian government to land at Minsk National Airport where two of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, were arrested by authorities and 4 others opted not to continue their journey after diversion. The flight from Athens International Airport, Greece, to Vilnius Airport, Lithuania, was escorted by a Belarusian fighter jet on the alleged pretence of a bomb threat on the orders of President Alexander Lukashenko, and escorted to Minsk. The incident was condemned by members of the international community.

Incident

Map
Approximate route of the flight, showing its diversion toward Minsk.
A Belarusian MiG-29 was used to intercept the flight.

On 23 May 2021, Ryanair Flight 4978 (Athens–Vilnius) was diverted to Minsk National Airport after a bomb threat was made whilst the aircraft was 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) south of Vilnius and 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) west of Minsk, but still in Belarusian airspace.[1][2][3] According to the airline, its pilots were notified by Belarusian authorities of "a potential security threat on board" and instructed to land the plane in Minsk.[4][5]

The flight was carrying 6 crew and 126 passengers.[2] In Minsk, Belarusian opposition activist Roman Protasevich was removed from the plane and arrested on the basis that he was listed on a Belarusian wanted list, accused of "terrorist" activities.[1][6] His girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, was also removed from the aircraft by Belarusian authorities and detained.[7] No explanation was presented for her arrest by Belarusian authorities. Sapega, a Russian citizen and student at the European Humanities University in Vilnius, was confirmed by the university to have been detained.[8] Despite the fact that the plane was closer to Vilnius, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, according to his press service, personally ordered the flight to be redirected to Minsk and sent a Belarusian Air Force MiG-29 fighter aircraft to escort it.[1][9][10] Belarusian government news agency BelTA said that the pilots asked to land in Minsk.[11][12] Both Ryanair and Belarusian law enforcement said that no bombs were found onboard.[4][5]

Aside from Protasevich and his girlfriend, four other passengers who are presumed to be Belarusian KGB agents did not continue with the plane to Lithuania.[13][14] Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for an investigation of the incident by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).[15] Protasevich had been placed on a list of "individuals involved in terrorist activity" the previous year for his role in anti-government protests. Tsikhanouskaya stated that Protasevich "faces the death penalty" in Belarus.[16] Another source said that Protasevich faced fifteen years' imprisonment.[7]

According to sources close to Tsikhanouskaya, Protasevich noticed that he was under surveillance at the Athens airport. In his messages, he stated that a man next to him at the line and at the checkpoint tried to take photos of his travel documents.[17] Additionally, Tadeusz Giczan, a member of the Nexta Telegram channel that was previously edited by Protasevich, said that officers of the KGB had been on the flight and that they had "initiated a fight with the Ryanair crew", insisting there was a bomb on board the plane.[18][3] A spokeswoman for the Lithuanian Airports state enterprise, Lina Beisine, told the AFP news agency that Minsk National Airport said that the flight had been diverted "due to a conflict between a member of the crew and the passengers".[18]

The flight course of FR4978 over Belarus on 23 May became unusual even before making the U-turn. Based on Flightradar24 raw data, it was noted that the plane did not start to descend over Belarus even though this is usually done in preparation for landing in Vilnius. One possibility is that the unusual route indicates that the plane's pilots tried to keep the original direction to get into Lithuanian airspace as soon as possible, but were forced to divert after the Belarusian jet fighter's interference.[19][20]

The aircraft was allowed to depart after seven hours on the ground at Minsk, reaching Vilnius eight and a half hours late. Protasevich, Sapega and three Russian citizens were not on board the aircraft when it landed at Vilnius.[2] Passengers noted having to wait 2.5 hours without water, toilet breaks or phone calls, while 50 to 60 Belarusian security officers at Minsk airport carried out checks.[21]

Aftermath

Positions by Belarus's government

Following the incident, the Belarusian Ministry of Transport announced that it had set up a commission to investigate the forced landing, stating that it would notify the ICAO and IATA about the investigation's progress and publish a report shortly thereafter.[22][23]

On 24 May 2021, director of the Department of Aviation of the Ministry of Transport of Belarus Artyom Sikorsky read out an email letter sent to Minsk airport on 23 May. This message was signed by "Hamas soldiers" and included demands to Israel to "cease fire in Gaza strip" and for the European Union to stop the support of Israel. It was threatened to blow up the plane over Vilnius, according to this letter.[24] Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel called the Belarusian explanation "completely implausible".[25] Hamas denied it was in any way connected to the incident.[26]

Sanctions

On 24 May, the Lithuanian cabinet decided on a ban of all flights to and from Lithuania flying over the Belarusian airspace, effective 00:00 GMT, 25 May (03:00 EEST).[27] British transport secretary Grant Shapps instructed the Civil Aviation Authority to request that British airlines avoid Belarusian airspace. Belarus state airline Belavia's permit to operate in UK airspace was suspended.[28] Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the government to halt air traffic with Belarus.[29]

Potential sanctions

The EU are due to hold a meeting of leaders on 24 May in Brussels, Belgium. Before the meeting, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda called for the EU to impose fresh economic sanctions on Belarus. Calls were made by eight countries for flights over and to Belarus to be banned. Another suggestion was that ground traffic be banned from entering the EU from Belarus.[30][31] Belavia could be banned from landing at EU airports.[7]

Reactions

International

European Union

National

  • Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda accused Belarusian authorities of carrying out an "abhorrent action".[34] He also said: "I call on NATO and EU allies to immediately react to the threat posed to international civil aviation by the Belarus regime. The international community must take immediate steps that this does not repeat".[35] Additionally, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė during her brief press conference in the Vilnius Airport informed the public that the pre-trial investigation has been started for forced disappearance and hijacking of the aircraft.[36]
  • Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, from whose country the Ryanair flight originated, described the forced landing of the aircraft as a "shocking act" and that political pressure on Belarus must be stepped up.[37] Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias described the event as a "states hijack".[2]
  • Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs described the incident as "contrary to international law" and said that the reaction should be "strong and effective".[34] On 24 May, Latvia expelled Belarus's diplomats in retaliation for Belarus expelling Latvia's staff.[38]
  • Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the incident "an unprecedented act of state terrorism that cannot go unpunished".[34]
  • Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin described the incident as "a state-sponsored coercive act" and "piracy in the skies".[39]
  • Chairman of the British Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Tugendhat said that if it was not an act of war then it was certainly a warlike act.[31]
  • Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Marc Garneau, said that the incident was "a serious interference in civil aviation and a clear attack on media freedom".[40]
  • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the grounding of the flight as a "brazen and shocking act" and demanded an international investigation.[41] There were American citizens onboard the flight.[42]
  • Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova compared incident to the grounding of Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane in Austria in 2013 during the hunt for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden after other European countries refused it permission to refuel or to use their airspace.[43]
  • Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte condemned the "unacceptable and unprecedented" attack.[44]

Aviation and international lawyers

  • Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary stated that the event was a "state sponsored hijacking" and that Ryanair believes "there were some [Belarusian] KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well".[7][30]
  • Ukrainian aviation lawyer Andriy Huk suggested that the interception by the military aircraft and redirection of the plane to a more distant airport could have jeopardized the safety of the passengers and crew. He also noted that Appendix 2 of Chicago Convention considers interception of civilian planes by military aircraft a very last resort, but the Belarusian military jet took off immediately.[45]
  • Associate professor at the Russian Higher School of Economics Gleb Bogush stated that the staging (dramatizing) of a bomb threat and the interception of the plane by the Belarusian authorities could have jeopardized the passengers and crew and that both the Chicago Convention and 1971 Montreal Convention should be used in the legal assessment of the case. He also called the situation "a very dangerous precedent".[46]

Airline

  • On 24 May, Hungarian airline Wizz Air rerouted a flight from Kyiv, Ukraine, to Tallinn, Estonia, to avoid Belarusian airspace.[47]
  • Latvian airline AirBaltic announced on 24 May that it would no longer fly in Belarusian airspace until the situation became clearer.[31][47]
  • Dutch airline KLM stated that it was not making any changes following a risk assessment.[31]
  • Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) announced that in line with instructions from the Swedish Transport Agency, the twice weekly flight between Oslo, Norway and Kyiv would be rerouted to avoid Belarusian air space.[48]

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a four-year-old Boeing 737-800, registered in Poland, registration SP-RSM.[14] The aircraft, entered service with Ryanair in May 2017 registered EI-FZX in Ireland, and was transferred to Ryanair Sun on the Polish aircraft registry as SP-RSM in November 2019.[49]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Belarus opposition says government forced Ryanair plane to land to arrest journalist". Deutsche Welle. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Hradecky, Simon (23 May 2021). "Incident: Ryanair Sun B738 near Minsk on May 23rd 2021, Greece calls diversion states hijack". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b Reevell, Patrick (24 May 2021). "Ryanair flight forced to land in Belarus with top activist on board". ABCNews.go.com. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b Troianovski, Anton; Nechepurenko, Ivan (23 May 2021). "Belarus Forces Down Plane to Seize Dissident; Europe Sees 'State Hijacking'". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Ryanair plane: Western powers voice outrage at plane 'hijacking'". BBC News. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  6. ^ "У аэрапорце Мінска, рэзка змяніўшы курс, прызямліўся самалёт Афіны—Вільня — на борце быў Раман Пратасевіч" [Athens-Vilnius plane landed at Minsk airport, abruptly changing course, Raman Protasevich on board] (in Belarusian). nn.by. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d "Belarus Faces Western Outrage Over Airliner 'Hijacking' To Detain Journalist". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Vilnius university says its student travelling with Protasevich also detained, demands release". Reuters. 24 May 2021.
  9. ^ "На борту самолета, экстренно посаженного в Минске, был Роман Протасевич" [Roman Protasevich was on board the plane urgently landed in Minsk] (in Belarusian). People Onliner. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  10. ^ "У аэрапорце "Мінск" затрыманы блогера Раман Пратасевіч" [Blogger Raman Protasevich detained at Minsk airport] (in Belarusian). Spring 96. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Команду принять в Минске "заминированный" самолет Ryanair дал лично Лукашенко" [Lukashenka personally gave the command to receive the "mined" Ryanair plane in Minsk] (in Belarusian). BelTA. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Основатель Nexta Протасевич задержан в аэропорту Минска" [Nexta founder Protasevich detained at Minsk airport] (in Russian). Kommersant. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  13. ^ Plikūnė, Dalia; Užusienytė, Jogintė (23 May 2021). "Be opozicionieriaus ir jo draugės į Lietuvą negrįžo ir dar keturi lėktuvo keleiviai: kas jie – kol kas mįslė" [Aside from the oppositionist and his female friend, 4 more passengers haven't returned to Lithuania: It's still unclear, who they were.] (in Lithuanian). DELFI. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  14. ^ a b c Kaminski-Morrow, David. "Political leaders outraged as Belarus 'forces' Ryanair 737 diversion to Minsk". Flight Global. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Belarusian Journalist Arrested After His Flight Diverted To Minsk After False Bomb Threat". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Belarus diverts plane to arrest journalist, says opposition". Deutsche Welle. 23 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Thriller in flight from Athens: Belarus forces plane to land to arrest activist (original: Θρίλερ με πτήση από Αθήνα: Η Λευκορωσία ανάγκασε αεροσκάφος να προσγειωθεί για να συλλάβει ακτιβιστή)". Efimerida Ton Syntakton (in Greek). 23 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  18. ^ a b "EU Outrage as Belarus Diverts Flight, Arrests Opposition Activist". The Moscow Times. AFP. 23 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Экс-главреда телеграм-канала NEXTA Романа Протасевича задержали в Беларуси . Его рейс Афины — Вильнюс экстренно сел в Минске в сопровождении истребителя. Европа грозит Лукашенко расследованием и санкциями. Главное". Новая газета (in Russian). Moscow. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  20. ^ "В Ryanair заявили об указании Беларуси посадить самолет с Протасевичем в Минске" [Ryanair issues instructions to Belarus to land plane with Protasevich in Minsk]. Deutsche Welle (in Russian). 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  21. ^ Seputyte, Milda; Dendrinou, Viktoria (23 May 2021). "How Belarus Snatched a Dissident Off a Ryanair Plane From Greece". Retrieved 24 May 2021 – via bloomberg.com.
  22. ^ Staff, Reuters (24 May 2021). "Belarus says it has set up commission to probe Ryanair incident - RIA". Reuters. Retrieved 24 May 2021. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  23. ^ "Belarus To Notify ICAO, IATA Of Readiness To Investigate Ryanair Incident - Minsk". UrduPoint. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  24. ^ Прокопьева, Дарья Спевак, Ольга (24 May 2021). "Минтранс: сообщение о минировании самолета RyanAir пришло от ХАМАС - Люди Onliner". Onliner.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ "Angela Merkel says Belarus' story 'completely implausible'". Deutsche Welle. 24 May 2021.
  26. ^ "Belarus points to Hamas bomb threat in plane diversion, Hamas rejects claim". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  27. ^ "Lithuania bars airport access to carriers flying over Belarus". LRT. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  28. ^ "UK tells airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace after flight diversion led to journalist's arrest". ITV News. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Zelensky orders halt to air traffic with Belarus". Unian. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  30. ^ a b "Western powers voice outrage as Belarus accused of hijacking plane". BBC News. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  31. ^ a b c d Williams, Matthias; Sytas, Andrius; Baczynska, Gabriela. "Europeans threaten to limit Belarus air traffic after 'state piracy'". Reuters. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  32. ^ Calder, Simon (23 May 2021). "Ryanair 'hijack' to Minsk could have serious consequences for Belarus". The Independent. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  33. ^ Sytas, Andrius; Ostroukh, Andrey. "Belarus forces airliner to land and arrests opponent, sparking U.S. and European outrage". Reuters. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  34. ^ a b c "Belarus 'diverts Ryanair flight to arrest journalist', says opposition". BBC News. 23 May 2021.
  35. ^ "Belarus forces Ryanair plane bound for Vilnius to land, infuriating Lithuania". Reuters. 23 May 2021.
  36. ^ "Oro uoste Minske nutupdyto lėktuvo keleivius sutikusi Šimonytė: tai negali likti be atsako". LRT. 23 May 2021.
  37. ^ "Mitsotakis: Ryanair forced landing a 'shocking act'". Kathimerini. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  38. ^ "Belarus flight stop is an international scandal - EU". BBC News Online. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  39. ^ Clarke, Vivienne; Leahy, Pat (24 May 2021). "Taoiseach says forced landing of Ryanair flight in Belarus is 'piracy in the skies'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  40. ^ The Associated Press (23 May 2021). "Belarus diverts prominent critic's flight, arrests him upon landing". CBC News. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  41. ^ Sytas, Andrius; Ostroukh, Andrey. "Belarus forces airliner to land and arrests opponent, sparking U.S. and European outrage". Reuters. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  42. ^ Ateba, Simon. "Biden admin condemns diversion of Ryanair flight to Belarus to arrest journalist Raman Pratasevich, says the lives of American citizens were endangered • Today News Africa". todaynewsafrica.com. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  43. ^ "West weighs action after Belarus diverts plane, arrests reporter". Al-Jazeera. 24 May 2021.
  44. ^ "Dutch PM joins condemnation of Ryanair 'hijack', KLM continues flights". Dutch News. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  45. ^ "Самолет Ryanair над Беларусью развернули - его сопроводил в Минск истребитель". 23 May 2021.
  46. ^ "В Белоруссии задержан экс-главред Nexta. Самолет, в котором он летел, совершил экстренную посадку в Минске". BFM.ru - деловой портал.
  47. ^ a b Katz, Benjamin. "Airlines reroute flights to avoid Belarus after forced landing". Market Watch. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  48. ^ McKensie, Sheena. "Belarus accused of 'state-sponsored piracy' as fury mounts over diversion of Ryanair flight". CNN.com. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  49. ^ "SP-RSM Boeing 737-8AS - 44791, operated by Ryanair Sun". Jetphotos. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
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