The United Nations’ aviation agency mentioned it was “strongly concerned” by the apparent forced landing of a Ryanair jetliner in Belarus, as worldwide airlines referred to as for an investigation into Sunday’s uncommon incident.
Aviation leaders reacted with shock immediately after Belarus scrambled a fighter and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb alert to force a Ryanair jet to land, just before detaining an opposition-minded journalist who had been on board.
The UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) mentioned the incident may perhaps have contravened a core aviation treaty, element of the international order made immediately after World War Two.
“ICAO is strongly concerned by the apparent forced landing of a Ryanair flight and its passengers, which could be in contravention of the Chicago Convention,” it mentioned.
“We look forward to more information being officially confirmed by the countries and operators concerned.”
Airlines joined a flurry of government protests.
“We strongly condemn any interference or requirement for landing of civil aviation operations that is inconsistent with the rules of international law,” mentioned the International Air Transport Association.
“A full investigation by competent international authorities is needed.”
Aviation specialists mentioned the uncommon incident could fuel debate more than the resilience of a decades-old program of cooperation.
ICAO has no regulatory energy, but sits at the centre of a program of security and safety requirements that maintain most airways open across political barriers. These are managed via the Montreal agency by its 193 member states, like Belarus.
Key Corridor
“It looks like a gross abuse of the (Chicago) Convention. It’s piracy,” Kevin Humphreys, a former Irish aviation regulator, told Reuters.
He added he would “not be surprised” if some airlines skirted Belarus airspace when they awaited more particulars, but stressed each and every would make its personal threat assessment.
“People in the industry will be worried,” he added.
Belarus is an vital corridor involving Europe and Moscow or southeast Asia and Europe, according to Flightradar 24.
Lawyers say Sunday’s flight was emblematic of a tangle of jurisdictions that share a delicate co-existence in aviation – involving a Polish-registered jet flown by an Irish group involving EU nations Greece and Lithuania, more than non-EU Belarus.
Under the 1944 Chicago Convention, each and every nation has sovereignty more than its personal airspace, although the treaty prohibits any use of civil aviation that may perhaps endanger security.
But the correct to overfly other nations is enshrined in a side treaty referred to as the International Air Services Transit Agreement, of which Belarus is not listed as a member. Non-treaty members grant overflights according to varying guidelines.
A separate 1971 treaty that involves Belarus outlaws the seizure of aircraft or knowingly communicating false data in a way that endangers aircraft security.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) mentioned it was “monitoring the situation from the safety perspective.”
It is not the initial time an abrupt diversion has fuelled diplomatic tensions, but the initial in memory that a industrial flight governed by civil treaties is involved, Humphreys mentioned.
In 2013, Bolivia mentioned President Evo Morales’ plane had been diverted on a flight from Russia and forced to land in Austria more than suspicions – later denied – that former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, wanted by Washington for divulging secret particulars of U.S. surveillance activities, was on board.