When Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s autocratic regime effectively hijacked a Ryanair Flight in May 2021 before forcing it to land in Minsk and kidnapping two of its passengers, the international consequences were swift.
The European Union banned Belarusian airlines from its airspace and airports, while also barring European carriers from flying over Belarusian airspace. Meanwhile, the United States banned the sale of plane tickets to and from Belarus.
Five months after Lukashenka’s act of air piracy, there are now calls for still tougher measures. US President Joe Biden’s nominee for the post of representative to the United Nations Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is calling for Belarus to be suspended from that body, which regulates international air safety.
In his testimony before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, C. B. “Sully” Sullenberger, a former airline pilot who achieved international renown in 2009 when he safely landed an Airbus A320 on New York’s Hudson River after hitting a flock of geese, said “more action needs to be taken” over Belarus.
Specifically, he noted that the ICAO can temporarily remove the voting rights of a state for violating international norms and stated, “we should be pulling every lever necessary to hold accountable those responsible for this act.”
Noting that the forced landing of Ryanair Flight 4978 and the arrest of Belarusian dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich “showed flagrant disregard for international norms of aviation security and safety,” Sullenberger said the ICAO “must ensure that those standards are upheld.” He also said he would seek a full chronology of the incident.