Belarusian authorities exploited Ryanair crew’s professionalism to force them to land in Minsk, US representative to ICAO says

February 18, BPN. The United States welcomes the decision of the International Civil Aviation Organization Council based on the report of the ICAO Fact Finding Investigation Team (FFIT) on the incident with the forced landing of the Irish Ryanair flight at Minsk airport on May 23, 2021, says the statement of the US representative to the ICAO Chesley Sullenberger.

According to the diplomat, the decision to extend the proceedings, taken on the basis of the incident investigation report, “is an important first step towards protecting international civil aviation from the type of unlawful interference and in holding to account those who engage in acts that undermine the trust between pilots and air traffic controllers.”

“Carefully cataloguing the many gaps and discrepancies in Belarus’s version of events, the FFIT report’s findings leave no doubt that Belarusian officials manufactured a false bomb threat to coerce the pilots of Ryanair Flight 4978 to land in Minsk for the purpose of detaining opposition journalist Raman Pratasievič, and his companion, Safija Sapieha,” Sullenberger said. “Speaking as a long-time pilot and aviation safety professional, I am particularly troubled by the indications that Belarusian officials actively misled the crew of Ryanair Flight 4978 and deliberately provided incomplete information about the alleged threat. Further, by not honoring the flight crew’s request to contact Ryanair’s operations center, Belarusian officials deprived the crew of a valuable resource to assess the credibility and urgency of the alleged threat.”

“Knowing well how a flight crew would react in these circumstances, it is clear that Belarusian officials exploited the crew’s professionalism, diligence, and dedication to the safety and security of their passengers. The subterfuge and outright lies of Belarusian officials were precisely timed for maximum effect, forcing the flight crew of Ryanair Flight 4978 into a situation where the only viable option was landing at Minsk,” the US representative to the ICAO added.

In his opinion, by manipulating the crew of the aircraft, “Belarusian officials put the passengers and crew at risk, contravened international aviation norms and shattered the essential bond of trust between air traffic controllers and pilots in that region.” He believes that Aliaksandr Lukašenka’s regime “created a dangerous precedent” such that flight crews “might now reasonably question if they can rely on the air traffic control for accurate and reliable information and assistance.”

“I appreciate the professional, impartial work of the ICAO Fact-Finding Investigation Team to date, and I look forward to the final report from the FFIT that provides an accurate and complete narrative of the forced diversion of Ryanair Flight 4978. When the FFIT’s work is eventually done, the work will still not be complete for those of us who care about safe and secure global flight – we must continue to hold those who undermine aviation safety to account. Nothing less than the safety and security of all who travel by air is at stake,” Sullenberger stressed.

On January 31, the ICAO Council requested to continue investigating the incident with the forced landing of the Ryanair flight in Minsk “in light of some newly emerging information.” The ICAO Investigation Team should establish “missing facts,” “including in connection with the related ongoing criminal and other investigations,” as well as report any further findings.

The Council “expressed concern at the gaps in information provided by Belarus and the inconsistences contained in the evidence available at the time of the investigation in relation to crucial aspects of the factual reconstruction of the events, and highlighted that the bomb threat against FR4978 was deliberately false and had endangered the safety of an aircraft in flight.”