The thriller around the Ryanair flight that was intercepted by one continues Belarusian fighter and was forced to land in Minsk. According to pilots and aviation experts, the pilot of the aircraft, after the bomb threat that turned out to be non-existent, had no choice but to obey orders.
The fact that Belarus lifted a fighter jet for to arrest journalist Roman Protasevic has provoked outrage in the West and many airlines say they will bypass Belarusian airspace from now on.
“If the interceptor was directing the Ryanair flight to Minsk, then they had to land there.” explained John Cox, a former US Airways pilot and current flight safety consultant. “Pilots are being trained for this and there are internationally agreed signals between the interceptor and the civilian aircraft,” he said.
He added that pilots, on all flights, have sketches or descriptions of these signals with them.
In the event of a bomb threat on the plane, pilots must obey the instructions for where they will land and consider that the stopper is there to help them. “You do not question the intention (of the one who interrupts) because you assume that he is there to help you”, said a pilot of a European company.
“It is their airspace and you do not start a conversation with a MiG-29,” commented another pilot, referring to the fighter jet lifted by Belarus to direct the Ryanair aircraft in Minsk.
According to the APE-MPE, the experts explained that although the airlines are obliged to provide lists with the names of the passengers on their international flights, the pilots usually do not know who is on the plane.
ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, claims that Belarus may have violated the Chicago Convention, an international flight safety agreement.
IATA, the International Air Transport Association, has called for an investigation. However, how such an investigation could be organized remains unclear, as the aviation sector – despite the internationally harmonized rules that govern it, so that the skies are safe – does not have an “international police force” to avoid constant disagreements.
Lawyers point out that for any investigation or legal claim, the tangle of jurisdiction, a feature of liberalized air travel: a jet registered in Poland, flying on behalf of a group from Ireland, between Greece and Greece, must first be unraveled. and is located above Belarus, a non-EU country.
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