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Lukashenko comments on ICAO report into Ryanair incident

LUNINETS, 21 January (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko commented on the ICAO fact-finding report into the event involving Ryanair flight in Belarus airspace as he spoke to the media on 21 January, BelTA has learned.

According to the head of state, the ICAO admitted that there was no interception, forced landing or rerouting of Ryanair aircraft by Belarus.

“The best way for them to move forward is to soft-pedal the topic,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.

As it has been reported, ICAO released the fact-finding report several days ago. The report was made available to all 193 ICAO member states, including the 36 states – current members of the ICAO Council. On 31 January, the Council will consider the report and take appropriate action, and will also look into Belarus’ complaint against the illegal actions of several European countries that had imposed sanctions against the civil aviation of our country.

When commenting on the report, Director of the Aviation Department of the Belarusian Transport and Communications Ministry Artyom Sikorsky said that the fact-finding team admitted the evidence proving that Belarus did not intercept, force to land or reroute the flight by using a MiG-29 military jet. The ICAO fact-finding team noted that there were no visual signals from the flight and cabin crew and that there was no communication with the aircraft. This is the proof that there was no interception by the MiG-29.

According to him, the document emphasizes another important point which Belarus previously drew attention to. “The data of the aircraft crew conversations in the cockpit was not saved as the crew did not turn off the recorders after landing in Minsk. Thus, the crew did not save the data, including the moment when they were making the decision to land in Minsk. It looks strange,” Artyom Sikorsky stressed.

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