This paper concerns Ryanair flight FR 4978 of 23 May 2021. The pilot in command was forced to deviate from the flight plan due to a bomb threat. The destination was to land in Vilnius (Litania) and not in Minsk (Belarus), where the Boeing 737-800 landed. Having identified the passengers, the dissidents Protasevič and Sapega, who had denounced electoral fraud in favour of the President of the Republic of Belarus, were arrested. No device was found and Hamas, which allegedly issued the threat, ruled out any involvement in the incident. Early commentators speculated that the false bomb threat and violation of the Chicago Convention (Art. 3-bis and 4) was instrumental in achieving an end that endangered civil aviation security. The Author traces the discipline of unlawful interference in the light of international legislation, which provides for an interweaving between the Chicago Convention, technical annexes and implementing texts (Doc. 4444). There is some concern about the conclusions reached by the ICAO Fact Finding Investigation Team in the January 2022 Report. Despite the reservations, inaccuracies and omissions of the competent Belarusian aviation authorities, the Council considers that there is insufficient evidence to identify the Republic of Belarus as responsible for the false bomb threat.
Il presente contributo verte sul volo Ryanair FR 4978 del 23 maggio 2021. Il pilot in command è stato costretto a deviare dal piano di volo a causa di un allarme bomba. La destinazione prevedeva atterraggio a Vilnius (Litania) e non a Minsk (Bielorussia), ove è atterrato il Boeing 737-800. Identificati i passseggeri sono stati tratti in arresto i dissidenti Protasevič e Sapega, che avevano denunciato brogli elettorali in favore del Presidente della Repubblica di Bielo-russia. Alcun ordigno è stato trovato e Hamas, che avrebbe diramato la minac-cia, ha escluso ogni coinvolgimento nell’accaduto. I primi commentatori hanno ipotizzato che il falso allarme bomba e la violazione della convenzione di Chi-cago (artt. 3 bis e 4) fosse strumentale al raggiungimento di un fine che ha mes-so in pericolo la sicurezza dell’aviazione civile. L’Autore traccia la disciplina del-la unlawful interference alla luce della normativa internazionale, la quale prevede un intreccio tra convenzione di Chicago, annessi tecnici e testi attuativi (doc. 4444). Si esprime qualche perplessità in ordine alle conclusioni cui è pervenuto il Fact Finding Investigation Team dell’ICAO nel Report del gennaio 2022. Esso, infatti, nonostante reticenze, imprecisioni ed omissioni delle competenti autorità aero-nautiche bielorusse, ritiene che non vi siano sufficienti elementi di prova per individuare in capo alla Repubblica di Bielorussia responsabilità per il falso allarme bomba.
TRA TUTELA DELLA SICUREZZA E VIOLAZIONE DELLE REGOLE. IL VOLO RYANAIR 4978 DEL 23 MAGGIO 2021
U. La Torre
2021-01-01
Abstract
This paper concerns Ryanair flight FR 4978 of 23 May 2021. The pilot in command was forced to deviate from the flight plan due to a bomb threat. The destination was to land in Vilnius (Litania) and not in Minsk (Belarus), where the Boeing 737-800 landed. Having identified the passengers, the dissidents Protasevič and Sapega, who had denounced electoral fraud in favour of the President of the Republic of Belarus, were arrested. No device was found and Hamas, which allegedly issued the threat, ruled out any involvement in the incident. Early commentators speculated that the false bomb threat and violation of the Chicago Convention (Art. 3-bis and 4) was instrumental in achieving an end that endangered civil aviation security. The Author traces the discipline of unlawful interference in the light of international legislation, which provides for an interweaving between the Chicago Convention, technical annexes and implementing texts (Doc. 4444). There is some concern about the conclusions reached by the ICAO Fact Finding Investigation Team in the January 2022 Report. Despite the reservations, inaccuracies and omissions of the competent Belarusian aviation authorities, the Council considers that there is insufficient evidence to identify the Republic of Belarus as responsible for the false bomb threat.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
