Ryanair flight diverted to Minsk by Belarusian government to allow arrest of dissident journalist

[ExRes]

The thing I find strange is that the actions of the pilot are being questioned in some quarters, including the main thread on this forum, why on earth would he/she not follow the plane sent up to escort him/her to safety when told there could be a device on board?

 

[TheEdge]

The thing I find strange is that the actions of the pilot are being questioned in some quarters, including the main thread on this forum, why on earth would he/she not follow the plane sent up to escort him/her to safety when told there could be a device on board?

Its very much a hindsight is 20/20 issue. We now know the MiG wasn't there to assist or for any sort of safety reason, it was there to make sure the aircraft put down in Belarus. If it was a "real" threat then no doubt the pilot would have got down as fast as possible, which from the location of the report/interception was Vilnius. Data extracted from historical FlightRadar recordings show in a normal situation the aircraft would have already started its descent into Vilnius and the Belarussian's actually prolonged the amount of time an aircraft with an active bomb threat was in the air.

 

[miami]

I saw some claim that ATC in Minsk reported the bomb had a proximity sensor to Vilnus hence having to divert elsewhere.

Not sure on the veracity of the report

Controller: For your information, we have information from special services that you have bomb on board and it can be activated over Vilnius.

Pilot: Standby.

Pilot: Ok, could you repeat the message?

Controller: I say again, we have information from special services that you have bomb on board. That bomb can be activated over Vilnius.

'They say code is red': transcript of controller telling plane to land in Minsk

A Ryanair pilot who landed his plane in Belarus on Sunday repeatedly questioned information about an alleged bomb threat, before ultimately agreeing to land in Minsk, according to a transcript released on Tuesday by authorities in Belarus.

www.reuters.com

 

[TheEdge]

I saw some claim that ATC in Minsk reported the bomb had a proximity sensor to Vilnus hence having to divert elsewhere.

Not sure on the veracity of the report

'They say code is red': transcript of controller telling plane to land in Minsk

A Ryanair pilot who landed his plane in Belarus on Sunday repeatedly questioned information about an alleged bomb threat, before ultimately agreeing to land in Minsk, according to a transcript released on Tuesday by authorities in Belarus.

www.reuters.com

They also claimed it was Hamas who very quickly said "erm, no, nothing to do with us" follow by various security organisations saying Hamas have no history or capability to act anywhere outside of Palestine.

 

[Wolfie]

Probably not, but they would have been able to justify it if they had: aircraft with reported terrorist link refused to comply with ATC instructions.

Any such action would have had massive long-term or even permanent political implications.

Belarus TV has rejected Michael O'Leary's claim that 3 KGB agents were on board. However, Greek media has reported 3 passengers voluntarily choose to remain in Belarus and not continue travel to Vilnius:

Iason Zisis - who was apparently on a flight to Vilnius but Minsk was his final destination.
Alexandra Stabredova - who asked to remain in Minsk without disclosing a reason.
Sergei Kulakov - who was apparently going to Vitebsk in Belarus, near the border with Russia.

Belarus plane: What we know and what we don't

As details emerge of why flight FR4978 was forced to land in Belarus, questions remain unanswered.

www.bbc.co.uk

Russian media is rejecting claims the KGB were involved because they say the only person on board with Russian citizenship was Sofia Sapega, as if a dictatorship in a former Soviet country wouldn't have their own government agents.

Protasevich’s girlfriend only Russian on board Ryanair flight forced to land in Minsk, rubbishing claims security agents involved

Just one Russian citizen left the Ryanair flight that was forcibly landed in Minsk by Belarusian authorities on Sunday, it has been revealed, disproving the widely circulated claims that four intelligence agents disembarked.

www.rt.com

I think it more likely that Belarus' own KGB, which incidentally is still called that, was involved.

The Russian KGB split into two (ending up with a structure like the UK and US) bodies covering internal and external security, neither of which are called KGB. The internal agency is the FSB and the external agency the SVR. Russia also has separate military intelligence bodies too.

They also claimed it was Hamas who very quickly said "erm, no, nothing to do with us" follow by various security organisations saying Hamas have no history or capability to act anywhere outside of Palestine.

If you'd said Palestine or Israel l would agree.

 

[miami]

"They weren't KGB, they were FSB"

 

[packermac]

I see Air France have had to cancel their Paris to Moscow flight yesterday and today as Russia have not approved (refusing?) a route into Russian airspace that does not go over Belarus.
I wonder if other EU carriers will have the same issue.

 

[miami]

I wonder if other EU carriers will have the same issue.

Be interesting if they insist Finnair have to fly via Belarus!

 

[packermac]

Be interesting if they insist Finnair have to fly via Belarus!

Very true although I guess the AF issue was that it is a change away from an existing Belarus routing. Of course where Russia is concerned anything may be possible!

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Very true although I guess the AF issue was that it is a change away from an existing Belarus routing. Of course where Russia is concerned anything may be possible!

It's been suggested on another forum that the issue might simply be Russian bureaucracy being slow to adapt to changed circumstances. Essentially the approved routeing is no longer being followed so needs a new approval.

 

[najaB]

The plot thickens:

Russia refuses to allow European planes to land in Moscow

Retaliation over Belarus airspace row results in cancellation of flights from French and Austrian carriers

www.theguardian.com

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

The plot thickens:

Russia refuses to allow European planes to land in Moscow

Retaliation over Belarus airspace row results in cancellation of flights from French and Austrian carriers

www.theguardian.com

Unfortunately that report makes no mention of the bureaucracy involved and whether the affected airlines have made any attempt to have their revised routeings officially approved by the Russian authorities. Many countries insist that foreign aircraft use specific entry/exit points to their airspace boundary and routeing approvals are tied to the use of specific points unless otherwise agreed/approved.

More significant is the very real possibility that Belarus could effectively be suspended from ICAO meaning that all international traffic connecting the country would be banned though doubtless Russia would ignore any such measure. Also the EU is gradually moving toward the position of banning the entry into its airspace of any traffic that overflies Belarus though its likely that some EU states will be more enthusiastic about this than others.

 

[najaB]

Interesting. Apparently Russia are now banning flights that avoid Belarus.

Belarus: Russia blocks some flights for avoiding its ally

Air France and Austrian Airlines routes to Moscow are halted as Russia rejects new flight plans.

www.bbc.co.uk