OTTAWA, February 1. /TASS/. A fact-finding group of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will continue its inquiry into the circumstances surrounding last year’s Ryanair flight landing in Minsk, the organization has said in a statement.
"In the first meeting of its 225th Session today, ICAO Council member States considered the ICAO Secretariat's Report on the Fact Finding Investigation into the events surrounding the diversion of Ryanair flight FR4978 on 23 May 2021," ICAO said in a statement, dated Monday. "Some Council States expressed concern at the gaps in information provided by Belarus and the inconsistencies contained in the evidence available at the time of the investigation in relation to crucial aspects of the factual reconstruction of the events."
Those countries, not mentioned in the statement by names, believe that the bomb threat was deliberately false and endangered the safety of the aircraft.
Several non-Council States - the Republic of Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Ireland - took part in the discussion.
According to the organization, the participants were "not unanimous" in their opinions regarding the document’s contents.
"In light of some newly emerging information relating to the FR4978 events and timeline, the Council requested the ICAO investigation team to continue its work with a view to establishing the missing facts, including in connection with the related ongoing criminal and other investigations, and to report to it any further findings," the statement says.
The council also called upon all ICAO member states and other relevant stakeholders to continue to collaborate with the ICAO investigation. The final report will be submitted to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
On January 17, ICAO sent a report about its investigation into the Ryanair landing in Minsk to its member countries.
The Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius landed in Minsk on May 23, 2021, after a bomb threat was received. A MiG-29 jet fighter was scrambled to escort the plane. The bomb threat was not confirmed. Later, it became known that the plane carried Belarusian citizen Roman Protasevich - a co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, deemed extremist by Belarus. He was detained, along with Russian citizen Sofia Sapega. Following the incident, the EU barred Belarusian airlines from flying to and above the EU, and recommended European companies to avoid flying over Belarus. Over 20 countries closed their airspace for the Belarusian carrier.