ICAO Council finds 2021 Ryanair flight diversion by Belarus unlawful

July 20, BPN. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council condemned Belarus for 2021 Ryanair bomb threat and flight diversion, following the recent discussions of the investigation report, updated with new materials and audio recordings from a Minsk air traffic controller who was in charge of the flight.

The Council concluded that “the bomb threat against Ryanair Flight FR4978 was deliberately false and endangered its safety.” It stressed that the threat was “communicated to the flight crew upon the instructions of senior government officials of Belarus.”

According to the ICAO, communication of false information was an offence under the Montreal Convention as it endangered the safety of the aircraft. It noted that Belarus also violated the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation.

The ICAO intends to forward the report findings to all its member states and to the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres for “consideration and any appropriate action.” Violations of the Chicago Convention by Belarus will be reported to the ICAO Assembly at its upcoming session to be held between September 27 and October 7.

On May 23, 2021, a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced to land at a Minsk airport. The authorities arrested two passengers, opposition blogger and activist Raman Pratasievič and his girlfriend Sofya Sapega (Safija Sapieha).

Sapega, a Russian national, is now serving a six-year sentence for allegedly administering an opposition account on the Telegram messaging app popular in Russia and Belarus. Pratasievič is still under investigation and is believed to be cooperating with the state.

EU airlines stopped flying over Belarus after the incident, and Belarusian carriers were barred from entering the bloc’s airspace.

On January 31, 2022, the ICAO Council requested that the organization’s investigators continue to probe the incident relating to the Irish airline “in light of some newly emerging information.”