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Following the scandal of the international landing after the landing of a passenger plane in Minsk, the SNB asks the responsible authorities when and what instructions civil aircraft must follow.
In what cases and for what legal and safety reasons can a passenger aircraft be instructed to change direction in the absence of a breakdown in accordance with applicable regulations?
* Assessment of the threat to flight safety: if there is a threat to passengers (eg hijacking, notification of an explosive, threat).
* Assessment of the threat to flight safety – if an aircraft failure occurs (eg engine failure, etc.).
* In all cases, the decision is made by the pilot. After making a decision, you can change the flight plan.
Should an aircraft land at the nearest airport in the event of a security threat (eg notification of an explosive on board an aircraft)?
* The decision is made by the pilot of the aircraft and decides how to follow the rules of his airline. If the incident took place in Lithuanian airspace, for example, air traffic controllers would be told that there is a possible explosive on the plane, air traffic controllers would prioritize this plane to land and then wait for the decisions of the aircraft. pilot. Pilots could choose whether to land or fly.
In this case, was Minsk the closest airport?
* According to the flight data, the Vilnius airport was closer.
Is the flight crew obliged to obey the instructions of the accompanying controllers or military aircraft if they see that the requirements do not comply with the protocols?
* If there is a normal daily situation, a normal flight is carried out, the pilot must listen to the instructions of the air traffic controllers: to land, choose the speed, go to the so-called “second lap” and the like.
* In a situation related to flight safety and security, the total decision rests with the pilot and he / she decides what action to take.
In what cases and according to what procedures can military aviation units be deployed to “escort” passenger aircraft?
* The Convention on International Civil Aviation, celebrated in Chicago in 1944, establishes that the take-over of civil aircraft is governed by the national requirements of each of the States Parties to the Chicago Convention.
* Basic principles that the States Parties to the Chicago Convention must follow when establishing the requirements for taking possession of aircraft:
– civil aircraft can only be taken into possession in urgent cases;
– if an aircraft interception occurs, it should be limited to aircraft identification, unless it is necessary to return the aircraft to its intended route, divert it beyond national airspace, divert it from a prohibited, restricted or dangerous area , or order a landing at an aerodrome;
– navigation guidance and related information must be transmitted to the intercepted aircraft by radiotelephony (if radio communication is possible);
– in the absence of radio communication, the information is transmitted using special signals;
– when the intercepted civil aircraft must land in the area through which it has flown, the designated landing aerodrome must be suitable for a safe landing of the aircraft.
***
BNS recalls that on Sunday afternoon, a Ryanair passenger plane flying from Athens to Vilnius forcibly landed at Minsk airport. He had approached Lithuanian airspace, but was forced to head to the capital of Belarus.
Ryanair reported that the plane with more than 100 passengers landed at Minsk airport when Belarusian air dispatchers reported a possible security threat on board. This information was not confirmed later.
In addition, Belarus used a MiG-29 fighter jet and a Mi-24 military helicopter to force a passenger liner to land.
An opposition activist and Belarusian journalist, Raman Pratasevic, flew on a Ryanair plane. When the plane landed in Minsk, he was detained, as was his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen and a student at the European University of Humanities in Vilnius.
Last year, the founders of Nexta, Sciapan Pucil, 22, and R. Pratasevich, 26, were included by Belarus in the list of “persons involved in terrorist activities”, and the channel itself was declared “extremist” . and ordered to be blocked.
This behavior of the Belarusian regime has been condemned by the West, which has also imposed flight restrictions on planes flying through Belarus.
