Salvatore Sacquitano, the Chairman of the Board of the International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO, stands ready to relay the findings from the emergency landing incident involving a Ryanair flight in Minsk to the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres. The update is being prepared for transmission to reinforce international understanding of the events and the subsequent assessments by ICAO. The disclosure comes as ICAO confirms that the bomb threat reported on the aircraft carrying Roman Protasevich, founder of the NEXTA Telegram channel, and his companion Sofia Sapega, was a false alarm that was later attributed to actions taken by the Belarusian authorities and the flight crew on the direction of those authorities. ICAO indicates that the information was not genuine and that the police took control of the situation after the crew followed orders issued by Belarusian officials. According to the organization, the next phase involves sharing the report on the FR4978 flight with all ICAO member states and presenting the findings regarding Belarus violations of the Chicago Convention. This step underscores the organization’s commitment to transparency and accountability in international aviation matters and the preservation of safety standards across its member communities. Earlier coverage from The New York Times highlighted statements from Belarusian air traffic personnel, including Oleg Galegov, who was involved in the Minsk landing of the Ryanair flight on May 23 and asserted that the report of a possible bomb was not accurate. On May 23, at the request of Belarusian authorities, a Ryanair flight traveling from Athens to Vilnius was diverted to Minsk for landing. On board were Roman Protasevich and his partner Sofia Sapega, both of whom were detained by Belarusian law enforcement. The international aviation community continues to monitor the situation and to assess its implications for freedom of movement, safety oversight, and the enforcement of international aviation norms across the region.
