MINSK, 23 August (BelTA) – A group representing the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has arrived in Belarus to investigate the incident with Ryanair's FR4978 flight, the press service of the Belarusian Transport and Communications Ministry told BelTA.
A working meeting with the ICAO team took place on 23 August. Transport and Communications Minister Aleksei Avramenko, Director of the Aviation Department of the Transport and Communications Ministry Artyom Sikorsky, an interagency commission of Belarus, and heads of aviation organizations took part in the meeting.
Aleksei Avramenko emphasized Belarus will enable access to all the materials and information an objective investigation of the incident needs. “It is necessary to do everything for the citizens of our countries to be able to freely travel in the Euroasian region at their convenience and using flights of any air carriers. I am deeply convinced that politics should be put on the back burner for this alone,” he stressed. In his words, an aviation safety check conducted in Belarus in 2017 demonstrated that the national measures meet international requirements by more than 90%.
Artyom Sikorsky also mentioned the significance of the international transparent investigation for the sake of ascertaining objective facts relating to what happened on 23 May 2021. He said: “Belarus' aviation authorities are open to a dialogue and are ready to provide all kinds of aid to the experts. The Aviation Department takes all the necessary measures to ensure aviation safety within the framework of the commitments undertaken before the international community of civil aviation and passengers 28 years ago.”
Sylvain Lefoyer, head of the ICAO group, assured that the experts will work in a transparent and objective manner. “Thanks to preliminary work we've been able to get a general picture of the events. Now we need to clarify a number of facts and collect additional data and materials,” he said.
Among other things the ICAO group will visit aviation organizations and meet with the personnel.
As a result of the visit a commission will amend the preliminary report, which is supposed to be prepared in September 2021. The final report will be presented by November 2021.
