Lithuania opens hijacking & kidnapping probe into Ryanair incident, pilots questioned

In the aftermath of the Ryanair plane's emergency landing in Belarus capital Minsk, Lithuania has opened a criminal investigation into the hijacking and kidnapping as pilots of the plane were interviewed upon their arrival in Vilnius, said Lithuania’s police commissioner-general Renatas Pozela, as per news agency ANI. Six people who boarded the flight in Athens were not on the plane when it arrived in Vilnius including Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, Russian citizen Sofia Sapega. Both Protasevich and Sapega were detained, said Pozela.

"What I know is that six people did not arrive in Vilnius," Pozela said adding that further details are being looked into as part of the criminal hijacking and kidnapping investigation. On May 23, the police had questioned the pilots when they landed. Lithuania’s police commissioner-general also said, “The pilots were the priority. We wanted to hear their stories. How did they see the situation? What did they do?"

Earlier on May 23, the United Nation’s (UNs) International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on May 23 said that it was “strongly concerned” by the forced landing of Ryanair flight FR4978 in Belarus. A MiG-29 fighter jet escorted the passenger aircraft to Minsk because of a reported bomb scare, however, no explosives were found. The incident left the aviation leaders flabbergasted and called for an investigation. Taking to Twitter, ICAO noted that the incident involving the Ryanair flight possibly contravened a core aviation treaty, part of the international order created after World War II. The UN aviation agency said that it is now looking forward to more information and confirmation by the countries concerned. 

IATA ‘strongly’ condemned the incident

The International Air Transport Association also “strongly” condemned the incident and called for a full investigation by authorities. It is worth mentioning that the flight was en route from Athens to Vilnius when it turned east to Minsk shortly before it reached the Lithuanian border. According to the Flighttrader24 website, the flight path suggested that the plane was actually nearer to Vilnius than Minsk when it turned. The plane from Greece to Lithuania was diverted to Belarus for several hours. Arriving passengers said that they had been given no information about the reason for the abrupt diversion to Minsk. 

IMAGE: Twitter