MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said it had sent to its member states a fact-finding report about a Ryanair flight’s landing in the Belarusian capital Minsk in spring 2021.
"ICAO has released its fact finding report into the event involving Ryanair flight FR4978 in Belarus airspace," the organization said in a statement.
A meeting to analyze the report’s findings is scheduled for January 31. On that day, the ICAO Council will review the document and consider any further actions. It will also consider Minsk’s request about the legitimacy of restrictions, imposed on Belarus by other countries over the incident.
On May 23, 2021, the Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a reported bomb threat. A MiG-29 fighter jet alert crew was scrambled to escort the plane. After the landing, the plane was inspected and no bomb was found on board. It was later reported that among the passengers on that flight was Roman Protasevich wanted by the Belarusian authorities, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which Minsk recognized as an extremist entity. He was detained by law enforcement agents. Russian national Sofia Sapega was also detained together with him.
Following the incident with a Ryanair flight, EU leaders banned Belarusian airlines from landing at EU airports and flying over the EU’s territory, also advising European carriers to prohibit their airliners from flying into Belarusian airspace. Over 20 countries closed their airspace to the Belarusian air carrier.