On Sunday, a Ryanair commercial aircraft was suddenly diverted and forced to land as it began its descent into Vilnius, Lithuania. The passengers, having
On Sunday, a Ryanair commercial aircraft was suddenly diverted and forced to land as it began its descent into Vilnius, Lithuania. The passengers, having been given no explanation from the pilot or crew, were left panicked and terrified as the plane changed course. According to the BBC, flight “FR4978 was bound for Lithuania from Greece when it was forced to switch direction for the Belarusian capital Minsk on Sunday so the authorities there could arrest dissident journalist Roman Protasevich,26.” “The pilot announced the emergency diversion, but provided no details,” the BBC added, noting that the commercial plane was accompanied by a fighter jet. “We all on the plane had panicked because we thought we were going to crash,” said one passenger, according to ABC News. “This was a sudden dive, changing the altitude very drastically. It was very violent. I’ve never felt this on an airplane. Everybody was in shock.” The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that, according to the chief executive of Ryanair Holdings PLC, the European budget airline “believes members of Belarus’ secret service were aboard one of its airliners when the plane was forced by a Belarus jet fighter to divert to the country’s capital of Minsk.
