PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - FR4978 ATH-VNO diverted, escorted to Minsk, alleged bomb threat – but was it?
Old 25th May 2021, 19:50
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dalgetty
 
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I feel bad for the pilots, because they are obviously hesitating, but it seems like after some discussion in the cockpit they make a decision to ask what status the alert is. If it is "red" - that's your job on the line. They don't seem to have got much information from Vilnius Ground, so they have to trust the only ATC they can contact, and if the controller says it is status red, you have to react...

...which underlines just how low Belarus authorities were prepared to go. They behaved in a way that goes against everything that trust between pilots and controllers is built on.

On top of that their cover story is that Hamas sent them a threatening email. A bunch of schoolkids could have come up with a better one.
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