commercial flight on its way from Greece to Lithuania was forced to change course and land in Belarus on Sunday, allegedly as part of a “shocking” and “unprecedented” plot by the country’s government to arrest one of its passengers.
International leaders have demanded swift action against Belarus, calling the incident a “hijacking” and an act of “state terrorism”.
The plane took off from Athens and was heading to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, with 171 passengers on board. Among them was Roman Protasevich, a journalist and vocal critic of the authoritarian regime in Belarus.
The flight’s route took it through Belarusian airspace. Shortly before it would have crossed the border into Lithuania, it suddenly turned east and landed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
In a statement, Ryanair said Belarus air traffic control had notified the crew of a “potential security threat on board” and instructed them to “divert to the nearest airport, Minsk”.
The flight path, as shown by FlightRadar24, suggests the plane was actually closer to Vilnius than Minsk when it changed course.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet to escort the plane to Minsk.
Ryanair said “nothing untoward” was found once the flight landed. It stayed on the ground for about five hours before resuming its journey to Vilnius. During that time, Mr Protasevich was reportedly arrested.
State media has described the incident as a bomb scare.
.Ryanair plane forced to land in Belarus, journalist Roman Protasevich arrested