Why Did They Turn Back Minsk-Munich Plane?

• 27.01.2020, 9:38

Seven important questions about what happened to the Belarusian officials.

This story is being discussed for the second day. On Friday, January 24, the flight of Belavia from Minsk to Munich left with a long delay. And something went wrong during the flight. Embraer had almost reached the border with Germany, but the plane turned near Wroclaw and flew back. And having returned to the Belarusian airspace, it landed at the nearest airport - in Hrodna, kp.by writes.

According to eyewitnesses, after landing, border guards entered the plane and took off two high-ranking Belarusian officials with their families - a total of six people, including two teenage girls. All the other passengers were also taken out and closed in the bus in 20 minutes. At that time, the plane was searched by a man in a black mask. Then the passengers - apart from those six - returned back on board. The pilots on speakerphone announced that "technical problems have been eliminated."

The plane took off again, and successfully flew to Munich. The board returned to Minsk at 23:47, six and a half hours late. The next day, the board continued its flights - the plane has already flown to Kaliningrad and Chisinau.

The Belavia airline has refused to comment on the situation. So far, border and customs services have also failed to report anything. There are no comments from the Interior Ministry, KGB and IC. In the absence of official information, unofficial information started to spread. The names of the officials, taken off the plane, became known: director of Mahiliou Khimvalakno Piotr Rudnik and director of Haradzeya Sugar Factory Mikhail Kryshtapovich.

Who are these people?

Piotr Rudnik, 62, has been heading Mahiliou Khimvalakno for six years. From 2008 to 2014, he was a member of the "Council of the Republic" and worked as chairman of the Mahiliou regional executive committee. In late 2014, Piotr Rudnik was criticized by Lukashenkao. He said that the region had failed to develop a systematic approach to personnel recruitment:

- The style of work, as you confirmed it yourself, is pathetic, - Lukashenka stated appealing to Piotr Rudnik. - Next year we will be passing an exam in front of people. And your people don't get salaries, and if they do, it's a small one, you have no order, everything has frozen in the past century, there is no movement, and I say it not because I am coming down on on you. Mahiliou is the worst city in the country from regional centers.

The governor had 15 days to correct his mistakes. In such a short period of time the situation could not be improved and Rudnik was dismissed. And soon he was appointed to the most problematic site in the petrochemical industry of the country - Director General of Mahiliou Khimvalakno. At that time, the enterprise was called a problematic one.

Mikhail Kryshtapovich, 63, is a member of the "Council of the Republic" of the current convocation. For 20 years he has been working as a director of the Haradzeya Sugar Factory. Before that he worked in the linen industry: he started as a trainee of a mechanic at the Valozhyn flax factory. Then he became a master of instrumentation and automation of the Krupki flax factory, chief engineer of Valozhyn flax factory, director of the Niasvizh flax factory. He was awarded the medal "For Labor Merits", Certificate of Honor of the "National Assembly" of the Republic of Belarus, Certificate of Honor of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.

The Haradzeya Sugar Factory is one of the largest sugar producers in the country. Besides sugar, it produces vegetable and fruit products, as well as juices.

The last time the high authorities inspected the factory was in August - Prime Minister Sergei Rumas came there. According to rumors, on Saturday the mill was searched, the director's office was sealed, and the director himself "is on a planned vacation".

7 QUESTIONS

1. Was that even possible? Aviation experts say it was. The commander of the aircraft has the right to decide to return. For example, if a malfunction occurs. However, one has to coordinate the maneuver with the air traffic controller of the country, over whose territory the plane is flying, in our case - with the Polish controller.

2. The crew announced that the plane had returned for technical reasons. If there was indeed a malfunction, why was it impossible to land at the nearest airport? However, such a scenario has a disadvantage: eliminating the malfunction and servicing the plane is always cheaper and easier at the "home base airport" - in our case - in Minsk. But the passengers, who were watching the search of the plane and refueling in Hrodna, did not notice that the plane was subjected to any technical service.

3. What are the officials guilty of, that it was necessary to return the plane from the airspace of another country? We hope that there will be official statements soon. Judging by the absence of a special force unit and an assault group, they're certainly not terrorists.

4. Was that a runaway? If so, why didn't the officials fly out of Moscow? It doesn't look like running away. Indeed, it was easier to get to Moscow by car and fly out of there. Or to use any foreign airline - then it would be impossible to return the plane from the airspace of another country in this way. Besides, according to some reports, Mikhail Kryshtapovich's vacation had been planned, and the company knew about it.

5. And why couldn't they have been stopped at the airport of departure? According to rumors, there were some setbacks in the interaction of the Belarusian special services. Or the order could have been made after the plane had departed.

6. Who compensates for the inconveniences to passengers of the flight - the direct or the return one? There is a special regulation in Europe, which protects the rights of passengers whose flights were delayed. However, it applies to either airlines from the EU or flights departing from the EU (the Munich-Minsk flight falls under the latter condition). Depending on the situation, it is possible to receive compensation from 250 to 600 euros. However, some of this money (usually between 20 and 30%) will be retained by the intermediary company, which will deal with paperwork and negotiations with your airline. There are many such services, such as CompensAir or AirHelp. With a flight from Minsk to Munich, everything is much more complicated - everything depends only on Belavia.

7. Who will compensate the airline itself for the cost of returning the plane? It is absolutely certain that Belavia has incurred financial (and reputational) losses associated with the return of the plane. Who will be responsible for this - we probably will not even know.