Ryanair Flight 4978

Ryanair Flight 4978 was an international scheduled passenger flight from Athens International Airport, Greece, to Vilnius Airport, Lithuania. On 23 May 2021, explosives were falsely reported on board the aircraft as it neared Lithuanian airspace. The aircraft was forced to land by a Belarusian fighter jet when it was over Belarusian airspace. It landed at Minsk National Airport, on the orders of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. 

Once the aircraft was on the ground, two of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were arrested.

On August 9, 2021, head of the Minsk National Airport Vyacheslav Khoroneko was put in the  of the USA. He got a punishment as a person who made it possible to land the flight there.

References

Category:2021 disasters in Europe
Category:Athens
Category:2020s in Belarus
Category:2020s in Greece
Category:2020s in Lithuania
Category:International relations
Category:May 2021 events
Category:Minsk

Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2021
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Europe