ICAO representatives arrived in Minsk to investigate the circumstances of Ryanair’s landing

A group of representatives of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) arrived in Belarus to investigate the emergency landing in Minsk of a flight of the Irish airline Ryanair on May 23, the press service of the Ministry of Transport and Communications said on Monday. Department comment leads TASS.

“A working meeting was held with representatives of the ICAO group to investigate the fact of the landing of a Ryanair Boeing 737 at the Minsk national airport. The head of the arrived ICAO group, Sylvain Lefoyer, assured that the work of the experts will take place in an atmosphere of openness and objectivity, ”the ministry said.

The final report on the investigation of the incident with the aircraft is scheduled to be submitted in two months. “Following the visit, the commission will make changes to the preliminary report, which is planned to be prepared in September 2021. The final report will be presented by November this year, ”the Ministry of Transport noted.

Transport and Communications Minister Alexei Avramenko noted that Minsk will provide access to all materials and information for an objective investigation into the circumstances of the incident. “It is necessary to do everything so that the citizens of our countries, as before, can freely travel in the Eurasian region on routes convenient for them and on flights of any airlines. I am deeply convinced that for this alone, politics should be put on the back burner, ”the minister emphasized.

As Aleksey Avramenko recalled, the audit of Belarus in 2017 on aviation security issues showed that the measures taken in the country are more than 90% consistent with international requirements.

Director of the Aviation Department of the Ministry of Transport Artem Sikorsky assured that the authorities are interested in conducting an international transparent investigation in order to establish objective facts related to the events of 23 May. “The aviation authorities of Belarus are open for dialogue and are ready to provide comprehensive assistance to experts. The Aviation Department is taking all necessary measures to ensure aviation security within the framework of commitments made 28 years ago to the international civil aviation community and passengers, ”he said. For his part, Lefoyer noted that already at the preliminary stage of work it was possible to “get a general picture of events.” “Now we need to clarify a number of facts, as well as collect additional information,” he added.

ICAO representatives plan to visit aviation organizations in Belarus and meet with personnel, transfers Interfax.

On May 23, 2021, the plane of the Irish airline Ryanair, following the route Athens – Vilnius, planted at the Minsk airport after receiving a message about mining. On the instructions of Alexander Lukashenko, a fighter was raised to accompany the passenger plane. Lukashenka personally gave the command to land the plane.

On board the plane were the founder of the opposition Telegram channel Nexta Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, Russian woman Sofya Sapega. They were arrested, and the liner with the rest of the passengers flew to Vilnius on the same day.

Protasevich was accused of inciting social hostility, organizing riots and organizing actions that grossly violate public order. And Sophia Sapega was charged with inciting social hostility, as well as participating in riots.

Ryanair’s emergency landing caused an international scandal. A number of airlines obliged their pilots to fly over the territory of Belarus. And at Ryanair landing named “Premeditated theft”. In early June, the EU Council announced that introduces a ban for the use of the airspace of the EU countries by the aircraft of Belarusian airlines, as well as for admission to the EU airports of all types of Belarusian air carriers. Then the European Union, the United States, Great Britain and Canada expanded the sanctions lists adopted against Belarus.