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Ryanair’s statement on diversion to Minsk Airport

149 points by app4soft 5y ago

iso1631 5y ago
Course not, that would annoy Belarus, which might lead to Ryanair losing profit
- 8draco8 5y ago
  Well two MiG-29 was actually "escorting" the plane to Minsk and there was KGB agents on board. I don't think crew had much to say. This was pure aircraft hijacking backed up by country (or two).
  - app4soft 5y ago
    > Well two MiG-29 was actually "escorting" the plane Info about MiG's escort NOT verified — there are no any photos/videos at this moment which shows MiG-29 side-by-side with Ryanair's plane.
    - tW4r 5y ago
      There is an interview with the First Deputy Commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of Belarus where he confirms that Mig-29 escorted the Boeing https://youtu.be/dsyfJ_HqjtQ https://youtu.be/dsyfJ_HqjtQ Additionally there is an alleged video of the Mig landing after escort with 6 air-to-air missiles visible https://youtu.be/AV8Im44ZtoI https://youtu.be/AV8Im44ZtoI
      - app4soft 5y ago
        Non of those sources shows MiG-29's side-by-side with Ryanair's plane in flight.
        generj 5y ago
        How many cameras do you think exist capable of capturing a MIG-29 at 50k altitude in low population density areas? I doubt there are pictures of most military interceptions of passenger flights, which is no reason to doubt they happened.
        tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
        Approximately 171, although only ~1/6th of them belonged to someone with a portside window seat. (Based on the passenger numbers, assuming 3+3 seating, and assuming everyone has, on average, one smartphone with a camera).
        VonGallifrey 5y ago
        The escorting aircraft would not need to fly side by side with the passenger aircraft. They could just fly behind, above or bellow the aircraft quite easily and not be seen by anyone on the aircraft. Not to mention that Air to Air missiles have a range in the tens of kilometers and the MIG-29 has sensors to observe the aircraft up to 100 km away. I don't think any of the passengers would have been aware in the slightest if the MIGs where flying 5 km behind the passenger aircraft.
        tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
        International intercept procedures are that one of the intercepting aircraft flies next to the intercepted aircraft. https://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2015/media/intercept-procedures.pdf https://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2015/media/intercep... Of course, they could also intercept from a bigger distance or threaten the plane with surface to air missiles and no jets at all. Intercepting from a bigger distance has the downside that the pilot cannot see the fighters except on electronic displays, all of which have zero security (just like the radio used to communicate with ATC). I wonder how long until someone "intercepts" an aircraft with an SDR and a directional antenna.
      - publicola1990 5y ago
        But any credible Western source has confirmed the same? For example any of the passengers or the pilots have vouched that the airliner was escorted by military aircraft?
        app4soft 5y ago
        > Western source has confirmed the same? Source?
  - iso1631 5y ago
    Sure, but once the plane had left Minsk and enterred friendly airspace there's no reason for Ryanair to not mention their missing passengers, other than risk finanicial reprisals (ryanair banned from overflying belarus)
knlje 5y ago
Here is a new statement published 45 minutes ago: https://twitter.com/RyanairPress/status/1396767221058359299 https://twitter.com/RyanairPress/status/1396767221058359299
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- app4soft 5y ago
  Are they reading HN? And just updated Ryanair's statement still does not include info about two "arrested" (kidnapped!) passengers of FR4978 flight in Minsk... JFTR, Originally title of actual thread on HN was: “Ryanair’s statement on FR4978 does not include info about arrested passengers”[0] [0] https://twitter.com/hn_frontpage/status/1396775444071002113 https://twitter.com/hn_frontpage/status/1396775444071002113
  - anaganisk 5y ago
    Do you seriously think HN is the only place this is being discussed? They could’ve read it from anywhere.
    - app4soft 5y ago
      Of course they may be triggered by my tweet, which I posted just before started actual HN thread.[0] [0] https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1396749633318264834 https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1396749633318264834
  - TechBro8615 5y ago
    No, HN replies are basically carbon copy of the top tweets about this. Not sure why this story is getting so much attention on HN tbh. I guess the connection to Snowden makes it mildly relevant.
nasduia 5y ago
The main purpose of that statement (as always with Ryanair) was to state it was outside of their control and therefore they will auto-reject any claims for delay compensation, regardless of legality.
- tluyben2 5y ago
  I do not know why anyone uses them still. I find them awful in every way. Will stay-cation if I cannot afford the ticket with another airline.
  - plantain 5y ago
    Because you'll often be faced with a 500 euro+ fare for a short flight on the national airlines, with either one of WizzAir/RyanAir offering the same flight for 20-80 euro. 9/10 times the service is near-identical to a flagship. 1/10 times, the sub-par exception handling reveals itself. That's a trade-off I make regularly to save 400 euros.
    - consp 5y ago
      There is a major difference: space. I cannot sit in a ryanair/transavia/whizzair seat for more than takeoff before the person in front has destroyed my knees. Most "premium" airlines have 1-2 inches more space and the option for more spacious seats.
      - asd4232 5y ago
        That is true. Not a major concern for most shorter people though. As a teenager I once did a 12 hour flight (with refuel stop) on a charter 757 with 29" seat space. Didn't find it terribly uncomfortable back then to be honest. Apparently Ryanair has 30" space.
      - klausjensen 5y ago
        I always buy extra leg-room (like seat by emergency exit), because I am tall as fuck. Problem solved. I fly a lot with RyanAir, WizzAir and the other discount-airlines, because what they offer is great value - and when you upgrade a bit, it is not terrible. A ticket listed for 50EUR, I usually end up paying around 100EUR with extras (legroom, luggage allowance).
SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
Others on twitter have pointed out: the pilot's job is to follow instructions from ATC. e.g. https://twitter.com/DavideLeDingue/status/1396535116848058376 https://twitter.com/DavideLeDingue/status/139653511684805837... The blame of this debacle does not lie with RyanAir, notwithstanding the way that their press release reads like "then Mrs Lincoln was slightly delayed at the theatre." https://twitter.com/jen20/status/1396661846187335680 https://twitter.com/jen20/status/1396661846187335680
- app4soft 5y ago
  > the pilot's job is to follow instructions from ATC ... until pirates entered to cabin: > What we know so far: KGB operatives boarded the plane in Athens this morning together with Roman Protasevich (he noticed dodgy-looking ppl taking pics of him at the gate). Then when the plane has entered Belarus airspace KGB officers initiated a fight with the Ryanair crew (1/2)[0] > insisting there’s an IED onboard. Eventually the crew was forced to send out SOS (literally moments before the plane would've left Belarus airspace). MiG-29 took off and escorted it to Minsk. Security services entered the plane and arrested Protasevich¹. (2/2)[1] ¹ Later yesterday press published info that not only Protasevich was arrested, but also his girlfriend which was also on that plane. [0] https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396446650718117890 https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396446650718117890 [1] https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396446652349784068 https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396446652349784068
  - SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
    To be sure, you obey the person pointing a weapon at you, instead of ATC. But it's moot; the pilots would likely not have known that these air pirates and Belarus ATC were acting in concert, unless the pirates wanted them to know that. Confusion and chaos are friends to criminals.
- wereHamster 5y ago
  A pilot is absolutely in its right to ignore ATC if they think it's necessary for the safety of the passengers and/or aircraft. ATC is a service to pilots in the air, they provide support. The ultimate decision how to perform the flight lies with the captain. If the aircraft was intercepted by fighters, that makes it more difficult to disobey ATCs orders. But if an ATC tells the aircraft to do X, the pilot can say «No, I'm not going to follow your instructions (because it would endanger the safety of the aircraft and/or passengers) and I'm going to do Y instead». It helps to convince the ATC of the situation if the pilot declares an emergency. Declaring an emergency is something that happens all the time, at most it means some paperwork for the pilot after they land.
BiteCode_dev 5y ago
I understand the anger against Ryanair aloofness and its dictatorship compliance, but I think it's diverting energy from the real culprits, which are the kidnappers and their boss.
- 3327 5y ago
  Well, EU skies are no longer safe. If a journalist can be picked up, anyone can be. Ryann air is at fault, pilot really is - he could have kept his course. It would be a game of chicken and risky. So hard to say what is right wrong here. Most importantly, its the fact that EU is weak and Belarus did the math and concluded they would get away with it. Simple As that.
  - hartleybrody 5y ago
    Pilot was told their flight was being diverted due to a suspected bomb on board. What "game of chicken" would make a pilot doubt that instruction and chose to keep flying, given what the information they were being presented at the time? It's not like they called to the plane and said "we'd like to kidnap a passenger, please land" and the pilot went along with it.
    - tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
      The game of chicken was "divert to an airport that's further away than your intended destination or we will shoot you down". What would make the pilot doubt the instruction would be the fact that the diversion airport was significantly further away: https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FR4978-Cover-Image-1132x600.jpg https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/0...
      - SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
        The game of chicken was ... to obey the request of the ATC of the airspace that the aircraft was in. It's _normal_ to do that.
  - 5y ago
gaudat 5y ago
The formatting looks awful. I thought this was a fake. Like someone opened Word and typed this with the default style... Don't they have a more professional looking template?
- johnchristopher 5y ago
  The secretary and the marketing department the PR department most likely do but I suppose the higher up who drafted and sent this doesn't care much about niceties.
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
  > The formatting looks awful. I thought this was a fake. No, that's the Authentic Ryanair experience.
romanovcode 5y ago
Statement is wrong. "..authorities cleared the aircraft to depart together with passangers and crew.." One passanger, Roman Protasevich, was removed fron the plane, the sole reason why this whole thing happened.
- app4soft 5y ago
  > One passanger, Roman Protasevich, was removed fron the plane There was also info that 6 passengers was removed in Minsk: Protasevich, his girlfriend and probably 4 Belarus' KGB agents.
yakubin 5y ago
> Nothing untoward was found and authorities cleared the aircraft to depart together with passengers and crew after approx. 7hrs on the ground in Minsk. Not all passengers. One passenger was arrested in Minsk. Why would they omit it/lie like that?
Pinegulf 5y ago
> "... to depart with passengers and crew ..." Except for a person, right?
- nimmen 5y ago
  Except for 6 people, 4 unnamed russians, journalist and his wife/girlfriend(who is not belarus national)
  - odshoifsdhfs 5y ago
    Out of curiosity, do you know her nationality?
    - r721 5y ago
      >Sofia Sapega, a Russian national and student of a Belarusian university-in-exile in Vilnius https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1416106/student-of-university-in-vilnius-among-detainees-on-diverted-flight https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1416106/student-of-...
      - odshoifsdhfs 5y ago
        Thank you
agd 5y ago
Worth noting the incident in 2013 where the US and EU collaborated to ground a plane to target a whistleblower: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident
- jiofih 5y ago
  Not the time for what-about. Why is it worth noting?
  - agd 5y ago
    I don’t see this as a whatabout. It’s a similar case that I’m sure Belarus and Russia will point to. It exposes the hypocrisy in the statements coming from our governments right now.
  - paganel 5y ago
    Because in that case nothing happened, even though we expect better from established democracies compared to the dictatorship from Belarus. And most of us live in those established democracies and not in Belarus, hence what happened back then was even more f/cked up.
    - 8fGTBjZxBcHq 5y ago
      We expect "better" from democracies largely because they have more sophisticated and effective ways to defang troubling journalists. You don't really need to murder or imprison them when you can just make it so no one trusts them or they can't find an audience. That said I do think Belarus fucked up here evaluating by their own best interests. Having an open dictatorship in Europe has always made a lot of people uncomfortable but was tolerated as long as they didn't draw too much attention to it or do any scary shit to outsiders. Here they kinda did both. Would not surprise me if this ends up being a huge problem for them long-term.
  - pydry 5y ago
    It helps Lukashenko win the domestic propaganda war. The West is trying to present itself as a viable alternative to Russia to Belarussian people. The opposition politicians he is attacking largely support leaning westwards. How do they criticize this without appearing hypocritical? It's very hard. If the West tries to punish Belarus with sanctions that hurt the ordinary Belarussian it will likely look even worse. I can't actually think of a scenario here where Lukashenko doesn't win something.
_fat_santa 5y ago
I wonder if EU airlines will now start avoiding Belarusian airspace if they aren't actually flying in to Belarus. Or I wonder if they will just disclose the flightpath prior to take-off. If I was an Russia/Belarus opposition journalist, I'd be scared shitless to fly around the EU and risk something like this happening.
- alpaca128 5y ago
  Realistically nothing will change in the long run. Direct routes are cheaper and >99.9% of flights over such areas work out fine. As always, unless there's a law or other incentive against it they'll continue to optimise profits and nothing else.
- apocalyptic0n3 5y ago
  airBaltic just announced they will be avoiding Belarusian airspace completely. [1] 1: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL3N2NB1ZX https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL3N2NB1ZX
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
  Yes, some, at least for now https://twitter.com/UK_CAA/status/1396855373810786304 https://twitter.com/UK_CAA/status/1396855373810786304
tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
"authorities cleared the aircraft to depart together with passengers" Good to know that if Ryanair says "passengers" they mean "some of the passengers". Edit: Also, as Flightradar24 states, Minsk was not the nearest airport at the time the plane was diverted, and it likely was never the fastest-to-reach airport while the plane was over Belarus, because the pilots would be prepared for a landing in Vilnius. The plane crossed the border into Belarus at ~9:30 around (51.929851, 25.369313), 280 km from Minsk airport, 300 km from Vilnius airport, with the Vilnius runway at a favorable angle and the Minsk runways perpendicular to the shortest path from their position to Minsk. So Ryanair's statement that it was the nearest airport sounds like bullshit too. At the time the plane made the turn (starting at ~9:45), it was about 2 minutes away from leaving Belarus airspace.
throwawayhay 5y ago
The very sad thing is that there’s a lot of firms in Silicon Valley that do a lot of business with Belarus, totally ignoring the monstrosities of Lukashenko. Mapbox for example, sources a considerable amount of its workforce from Minsk, and they’re little better than slaves because they can’t quit or complain or they’ll be sent to the mines. We sit here and say that this kind of behavior is villainous, but we happily do business with those who profit off of the suffering of others. For shame.
- grayhatter 5y ago
  "we" ... Humans aren't responsible for the actions of their brothers. What they're doing is wrong, but its not a we. perhaps you were looking to make a call to action? a link to the contact points might go a long way.
jomnasi 5y ago
Did not a similar incident happen when a plane from Bolivia was forced to land in Austria after possible orders by the US in a search for Ed Snowden?
- queuebert 5y ago
  I, too, am curious about the contrast between these two situations. Presumably the US was truthful about the reason for the diversion, while Belarus apparently lied.
- coolspot 5y ago
  Not just any plane, but the plane of Bolivian president! [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident [1] - https://youtu.be/-_mqzSbAPXM https://youtu.be/-_mqzSbAPXM
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
twiddling 5y ago
https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396868542654566402 https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396868542654566402 Sounds like he is in the hospital with "heart problems" now...

149 points by app4soft 5y ago

iso1631 5y ago

Course not, that would annoy Belarus, which might lead to Ryanair losing profit

8draco8 5y ago
Well two MiG-29 was actually "escorting" the plane to Minsk and there was KGB agents on board. I don't think crew had much to say. This was pure aircraft hijacking backed up by country (or two).
- app4soft 5y ago
  > Well two MiG-29 was actually "escorting" the plane Info about MiG's escort NOT verified — there are no any photos/videos at this moment which shows MiG-29 side-by-side with Ryanair's plane.
  - tW4r 5y ago
    There is an interview with the First Deputy Commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of Belarus where he confirms that Mig-29 escorted the Boeing https://youtu.be/dsyfJ_HqjtQ https://youtu.be/dsyfJ_HqjtQ Additionally there is an alleged video of the Mig landing after escort with 6 air-to-air missiles visible https://youtu.be/AV8Im44ZtoI https://youtu.be/AV8Im44ZtoI
    - app4soft 5y ago
      Non of those sources shows MiG-29's side-by-side with Ryanair's plane in flight.
      - generj 5y ago
        How many cameras do you think exist capable of capturing a MIG-29 at 50k altitude in low population density areas? I doubt there are pictures of most military interceptions of passenger flights, which is no reason to doubt they happened.
        tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
        Approximately 171, although only ~1/6th of them belonged to someone with a portside window seat. (Based on the passenger numbers, assuming 3+3 seating, and assuming everyone has, on average, one smartphone with a camera).
        VonGallifrey 5y ago
        The escorting aircraft would not need to fly side by side with the passenger aircraft. They could just fly behind, above or bellow the aircraft quite easily and not be seen by anyone on the aircraft. Not to mention that Air to Air missiles have a range in the tens of kilometers and the MIG-29 has sensors to observe the aircraft up to 100 km away. I don't think any of the passengers would have been aware in the slightest if the MIGs where flying 5 km behind the passenger aircraft.
        tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
        International intercept procedures are that one of the intercepting aircraft flies next to the intercepted aircraft. https://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2015/media/intercept-procedures.pdf https://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2015/media/intercep... Of course, they could also intercept from a bigger distance or threaten the plane with surface to air missiles and no jets at all. Intercepting from a bigger distance has the downside that the pilot cannot see the fighters except on electronic displays, all of which have zero security (just like the radio used to communicate with ATC). I wonder how long until someone "intercepts" an aircraft with an SDR and a directional antenna.
    - publicola1990 5y ago
      But any credible Western source has confirmed the same? For example any of the passengers or the pilots have vouched that the airliner was escorted by military aircraft?
      - app4soft 5y ago
        > Western source has confirmed the same? Source?
- iso1631 5y ago
  Sure, but once the plane had left Minsk and enterred friendly airspace there's no reason for Ryanair to not mention their missing passengers, other than risk finanicial reprisals (ryanair banned from overflying belarus)

knlje 5y ago

Here is a new statement published 45 minutes ago: https://twitter.com/RyanairPress/status/1396767221058359299 https://twitter.com/RyanairPress/status/1396767221058359299

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
app4soft 5y ago
Are they reading HN? And just updated Ryanair's statement still does not include info about two "arrested" (kidnapped!) passengers of FR4978 flight in Minsk... JFTR, Originally title of actual thread on HN was: “Ryanair’s statement on FR4978 does not include info about arrested passengers”[0] [0] https://twitter.com/hn_frontpage/status/1396775444071002113 https://twitter.com/hn_frontpage/status/1396775444071002113
- anaganisk 5y ago
  Do you seriously think HN is the only place this is being discussed? They could’ve read it from anywhere.
  - app4soft 5y ago
    Of course they may be triggered by my tweet, which I posted just before started actual HN thread.[0] [0] https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1396749633318264834 https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1396749633318264834
- TechBro8615 5y ago
  No, HN replies are basically carbon copy of the top tweets about this. Not sure why this story is getting so much attention on HN tbh. I guess the connection to Snowden makes it mildly relevant.

nasduia 5y ago

The main purpose of that statement (as always with Ryanair) was to state it was outside of their control and therefore they will auto-reject any claims for delay compensation, regardless of legality.

tluyben2 5y ago
I do not know why anyone uses them still. I find them awful in every way. Will stay-cation if I cannot afford the ticket with another airline.
- plantain 5y ago
  Because you'll often be faced with a 500 euro+ fare for a short flight on the national airlines, with either one of WizzAir/RyanAir offering the same flight for 20-80 euro. 9/10 times the service is near-identical to a flagship. 1/10 times, the sub-par exception handling reveals itself. That's a trade-off I make regularly to save 400 euros.
  - consp 5y ago
    There is a major difference: space. I cannot sit in a ryanair/transavia/whizzair seat for more than takeoff before the person in front has destroyed my knees. Most "premium" airlines have 1-2 inches more space and the option for more spacious seats.
    - asd4232 5y ago
      That is true. Not a major concern for most shorter people though. As a teenager I once did a 12 hour flight (with refuel stop) on a charter 757 with 29" seat space. Didn't find it terribly uncomfortable back then to be honest. Apparently Ryanair has 30" space.
    - klausjensen 5y ago
      I always buy extra leg-room (like seat by emergency exit), because I am tall as fuck. Problem solved. I fly a lot with RyanAir, WizzAir and the other discount-airlines, because what they offer is great value - and when you upgrade a bit, it is not terrible. A ticket listed for 50EUR, I usually end up paying around 100EUR with extras (legroom, luggage allowance).

SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago

Others on twitter have pointed out: the pilot's job is to follow instructions from ATC. e.g. https://twitter.com/DavideLeDingue/status/1396535116848058376 https://twitter.com/DavideLeDingue/status/139653511684805837... The blame of this debacle does not lie with RyanAir, notwithstanding the way that their press release reads like "then Mrs Lincoln was slightly delayed at the theatre." https://twitter.com/jen20/status/1396661846187335680 https://twitter.com/jen20/status/1396661846187335680

app4soft 5y ago
> the pilot's job is to follow instructions from ATC ... until pirates entered to cabin: > What we know so far: KGB operatives boarded the plane in Athens this morning together with Roman Protasevich (he noticed dodgy-looking ppl taking pics of him at the gate). Then when the plane has entered Belarus airspace KGB officers initiated a fight with the Ryanair crew (1/2)[0] > insisting there’s an IED onboard. Eventually the crew was forced to send out SOS (literally moments before the plane would've left Belarus airspace). MiG-29 took off and escorted it to Minsk. Security services entered the plane and arrested Protasevich¹. (2/2)[1] ¹ Later yesterday press published info that not only Protasevich was arrested, but also his girlfriend which was also on that plane. [0] https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396446650718117890 https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396446650718117890 [1] https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396446652349784068 https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396446652349784068
- SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
  To be sure, you obey the person pointing a weapon at you, instead of ATC. But it's moot; the pilots would likely not have known that these air pirates and Belarus ATC were acting in concert, unless the pirates wanted them to know that. Confusion and chaos are friends to criminals.
wereHamster 5y ago
A pilot is absolutely in its right to ignore ATC if they think it's necessary for the safety of the passengers and/or aircraft. ATC is a service to pilots in the air, they provide support. The ultimate decision how to perform the flight lies with the captain. If the aircraft was intercepted by fighters, that makes it more difficult to disobey ATCs orders. But if an ATC tells the aircraft to do X, the pilot can say «No, I'm not going to follow your instructions (because it would endanger the safety of the aircraft and/or passengers) and I'm going to do Y instead». It helps to convince the ATC of the situation if the pilot declares an emergency. Declaring an emergency is something that happens all the time, at most it means some paperwork for the pilot after they land.

BiteCode_dev 5y ago

I understand the anger against Ryanair aloofness and its dictatorship compliance, but I think it's diverting energy from the real culprits, which are the kidnappers and their boss.

3327 5y ago
Well, EU skies are no longer safe. If a journalist can be picked up, anyone can be. Ryann air is at fault, pilot really is - he could have kept his course. It would be a game of chicken and risky. So hard to say what is right wrong here. Most importantly, its the fact that EU is weak and Belarus did the math and concluded they would get away with it. Simple As that.
- hartleybrody 5y ago
  Pilot was told their flight was being diverted due to a suspected bomb on board. What "game of chicken" would make a pilot doubt that instruction and chose to keep flying, given what the information they were being presented at the time? It's not like they called to the plane and said "we'd like to kidnap a passenger, please land" and the pilot went along with it.
  - tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
    The game of chicken was "divert to an airport that's further away than your intended destination or we will shoot you down". What would make the pilot doubt the instruction would be the fact that the diversion airport was significantly further away: https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FR4978-Cover-Image-1132x600.jpg https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/0...
    - SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
      The game of chicken was ... to obey the request of the ATC of the airspace that the aircraft was in. It's _normal_ to do that.
- 5y ago

gaudat 5y ago

The formatting looks awful. I thought this was a fake. Like someone opened Word and typed this with the default style... Don't they have a more professional looking template?

johnchristopher 5y ago
The secretary and the marketing department the PR department most likely do but I suppose the higher up who drafted and sent this doesn't care much about niceties.
SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
> The formatting looks awful. I thought this was a fake. No, that's the Authentic Ryanair experience.

romanovcode 5y ago

Statement is wrong. "..authorities cleared the aircraft to depart together with passangers and crew.." One passanger, Roman Protasevich, was removed fron the plane, the sole reason why this whole thing happened.

app4soft 5y ago
> One passanger, Roman Protasevich, was removed fron the plane There was also info that 6 passengers was removed in Minsk: Protasevich, his girlfriend and probably 4 Belarus' KGB agents.

yakubin 5y ago

> Nothing untoward was found and authorities cleared the aircraft to depart together with passengers and crew after approx. 7hrs on the ground in Minsk. Not all passengers. One passenger was arrested in Minsk. Why would they omit it/lie like that?

Pinegulf 5y ago

> "... to depart with passengers and crew ..." Except for a person, right?

nimmen 5y ago
Except for 6 people, 4 unnamed russians, journalist and his wife/girlfriend(who is not belarus national)
- odshoifsdhfs 5y ago
  Out of curiosity, do you know her nationality?
  - r721 5y ago
    >Sofia Sapega, a Russian national and student of a Belarusian university-in-exile in Vilnius https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1416106/student-of-university-in-vilnius-among-detainees-on-diverted-flight https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1416106/student-of-...
    - odshoifsdhfs 5y ago
      Thank you

agd 5y ago

Worth noting the incident in 2013 where the US and EU collaborated to ground a plane to target a whistleblower: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident

jiofih 5y ago
Not the time for what-about. Why is it worth noting?
- agd 5y ago
  I don’t see this as a whatabout. It’s a similar case that I’m sure Belarus and Russia will point to. It exposes the hypocrisy in the statements coming from our governments right now.
- paganel 5y ago
  Because in that case nothing happened, even though we expect better from established democracies compared to the dictatorship from Belarus. And most of us live in those established democracies and not in Belarus, hence what happened back then was even more f/cked up.
  - 8fGTBjZxBcHq 5y ago
    We expect "better" from democracies largely because they have more sophisticated and effective ways to defang troubling journalists. You don't really need to murder or imprison them when you can just make it so no one trusts them or they can't find an audience. That said I do think Belarus fucked up here evaluating by their own best interests. Having an open dictatorship in Europe has always made a lot of people uncomfortable but was tolerated as long as they didn't draw too much attention to it or do any scary shit to outsiders. Here they kinda did both. Would not surprise me if this ends up being a huge problem for them long-term.
- pydry 5y ago
  It helps Lukashenko win the domestic propaganda war. The West is trying to present itself as a viable alternative to Russia to Belarussian people. The opposition politicians he is attacking largely support leaning westwards. How do they criticize this without appearing hypocritical? It's very hard. If the West tries to punish Belarus with sanctions that hurt the ordinary Belarussian it will likely look even worse. I can't actually think of a scenario here where Lukashenko doesn't win something.

_fat_santa 5y ago

I wonder if EU airlines will now start avoiding Belarusian airspace if they aren't actually flying in to Belarus. Or I wonder if they will just disclose the flightpath prior to take-off. If I was an Russia/Belarus opposition journalist, I'd be scared shitless to fly around the EU and risk something like this happening.

alpaca128 5y ago
Realistically nothing will change in the long run. Direct routes are cheaper and >99.9% of flights over such areas work out fine. As always, unless there's a law or other incentive against it they'll continue to optimise profits and nothing else.
apocalyptic0n3 5y ago
airBaltic just announced they will be avoiding Belarusian airspace completely. [1] 1: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL3N2NB1ZX https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL3N2NB1ZX
SideburnsOfDoom 5y ago
Yes, some, at least for now https://twitter.com/UK_CAA/status/1396855373810786304 https://twitter.com/UK_CAA/status/1396855373810786304

tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago

"authorities cleared the aircraft to depart together with passengers" Good to know that if Ryanair says "passengers" they mean "some of the passengers". Edit: Also, as Flightradar24 states, Minsk was not the nearest airport at the time the plane was diverted, and it likely was never the fastest-to-reach airport while the plane was over Belarus, because the pilots would be prepared for a landing in Vilnius. The plane crossed the border into Belarus at ~9:30 around (51.929851, 25.369313), 280 km from Minsk airport, 300 km from Vilnius airport, with the Vilnius runway at a favorable angle and the Minsk runways perpendicular to the shortest path from their position to Minsk. So Ryanair's statement that it was the nearest airport sounds like bullshit too. At the time the plane made the turn (starting at ~9:45), it was about 2 minutes away from leaving Belarus airspace.

throwawayhay 5y ago

The very sad thing is that there’s a lot of firms in Silicon Valley that do a lot of business with Belarus, totally ignoring the monstrosities of Lukashenko. Mapbox for example, sources a considerable amount of its workforce from Minsk, and they’re little better than slaves because they can’t quit or complain or they’ll be sent to the mines. We sit here and say that this kind of behavior is villainous, but we happily do business with those who profit off of the suffering of others. For shame.

grayhatter 5y ago
"we" ... Humans aren't responsible for the actions of their brothers. What they're doing is wrong, but its not a we. perhaps you were looking to make a call to action? a link to the contact points might go a long way.

jomnasi 5y ago

Did not a similar incident happen when a plane from Bolivia was forced to land in Austria after possible orders by the US in a search for Ed Snowden?

queuebert 5y ago
I, too, am curious about the contrast between these two situations. Presumably the US was truthful about the reason for the diversion, while Belarus apparently lied.
coolspot 5y ago
Not just any plane, but the plane of Bolivian president! [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident [1] - https://youtu.be/-_mqzSbAPXM https://youtu.be/-_mqzSbAPXM
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

twiddling 5y ago

https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396868542654566402 https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1396868542654566402 Sounds like he is in the hospital with "heart problems" now...