Ryanair flight sent '20 departure delay messages' after forced landing in Minsk

Ryanair Flight 4978 sent 20 departure delay messages while it was on the ground in Minsk.

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2021/0524/1223628-ryanair-minsk-belarus/

That is according to an internal report by the European air traffic management organisation, seen by RTÉ News.

The messages indicate that it was "not ready or allowed" to leave the Belarusian capital after it was forced into an emergency landing yesterday.

The report by Eurocontrol shows that the Boeing 737-800, en route from Athens to Vilnius, was forced to land in Minsk at 10.30am UTC and was not able to depart until 18.26pm.

The original departure time of the Ryanair flight in resuming its journey towards Vilnius was filed by the aircraft at 11.16am, with an estimated departure time of 11.30am.

However, the report states: "20 departure delay messages [were] received for the flight indicating that the flight was not ready or allowed to depart from Minsk."

Eurocontrol confirms that there were 117 passengers on board and five "did not continue to Vilnius".

One of the five, the Belarusian opposition blogger Roman Protasevich, was extracted from the flight and arrested.

The Eurocontrol report suggests that Belarus could be in contravention of Articles 3 and 4 of the Chicago Convention.

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