ICAO commission to investigate Ryanair incident has no plans to visit Belarus any time soon

<p> MINSK, Jun 14 - PrimePress. The commission of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to investigate the emergency landing of the Ryanair passenger aircraft in Minsk Airport on June 23 so far does not plan to visit Belarus. Director of the Aviation Department of the Belarusian Transport and Communications Ministry Artyom Sikorsky made a statement to this effect at a briefing in Minsk on 14 June. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, on May 23, a Ryanair airline plane flying fr om Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing at Minsk National Airport after receiving information about an explosive device on board (the bomb report was not confirmed). The manoeuvre was performed in the company of a Belarus Air Force MIG-29 fighter. Belarusian blogger and activist Roman Protasevich was on board the Ryanair plane and was detained. He is charged under three articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus and is on the international wanted list. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will conduct an official investigation into the incident. A number of countries have closed their airspace for Belarusian air carriers and prohibited their airlines to fly over Belarus. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “A visit of the (ICAO – editor’s) commission members to Belarus is not on the agenda at the moment. We were simply asked to send the material, which, by the way, has already been partially sent to the ICAO on 24 May,” Prime news agency quoted Sikorski as saying. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Sikorski recalled that Belarus was the first to make an official statement to the ICAO on the need for investigation – “21:03, Minsk time, May 23”. </p> <p>   </p> <p> On May 24, the Department of Aviation held a briefing, which announced the creation of an interdepartmental commission to investigate the circumstances of the Ryanair incident in Belarus. The department invited ICAO, IATO, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), representatives of the aviation administrations concerned to take part in this investigation. The department later made a report to ICAO. </p> <p>   </p> <p> According to Sikorski, Belarus’ interdepartmental commission can’t complete the investigation without receiving relevant information from the partners. “We have addressed Poland, the country of aircraft registration, and Ireland, the aircraft operating country, with a request to provide air traffic records. We have not received an answer yet,” Sikorski said. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Chief of the Air Force and Air Defence Command of the Armed Forces of Belarus, Major-General Igor Golub reiterated on 14 June that the Ryanair aircraft had not been intercepted by a Belarus Air Force Mig-29. Igor Golub said: “Instrumental data convincingly confirms that there was no interception, no coercive U-turn away from the state border, and no forced landing of the Ryanair flight. It has been repeatedly proven and demonstrated to anyone willing to objectively understand the situation. According to the reliable data we have, this fact has also been recognized in confidential reports by my colleagues by occupation in the NATO countries that border on Belarus.” </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, on June 4, the European Union (EU) officially banned all Belarusian air carriers to use its airspace and airports. The ban does not apply to humanitarian flights, as well as emergency landings and emergency overflights. As a result, the geography of Belavia flights reduced to nine countries, the company said it could not perform flights to 20 countries and Kaliningrad (Russia), wh ere it used to fly. </p> <p>   </p> <p> On June 2, Belarus asked ICAO to make a judgement about the legal aspect of the unilateral bans for Belarusian air carriers to use the airspace of some countries after the emergency landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk on 23 May. End </p>

2021-06-15

Primepress