The Boeing 737-800 aircraft (tail number EW-456PA) of Belavia Airlines, operating flight B2-840 on the route Zhulyany (Kyiv) - Minsk, was forced to return to the airport of departure on Friday at the request of the Ukrainian side.
There were 136 passengers and 6 crew members on board.
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“At 15.25 the plane took off from Kyiv. At 15.36, 50 kilometers before entering the airspace of the Republic of Belarus, the aircraft commander received an instruction from the air traffic controller of the regional center "Kiev", part of the state-owned air traffic service enterprise "Ukraerorukh", to immediately return to the departure airport without explaining any reasons. It was also stated that in case of failure to comply with the command, fighters would be scrambled into the air. The aircraft commander complied with the received instructions and began descending at 15.37.
At 15.55, the Belavia airline plane landed at the Zhulyany international airport. After landing from the aircraft, law enforcement agencies of Ukraine removed one passenger, a citizen of Armenia.
After refueling at 16.37, flight B2-840 took off for Minsk and landed safely at Minsk National Airport at 17.33 local time.
The Ukrainian law enforcement authorities released this passenger and took off at 19.00 on Belavia flight B2-830 to Minsk.
Belavia Airlines intends to demand reimbursement from the State Enterprise UkraeroRukh of expenses associated with the return of the aircraft to Zhulyany International Airport,” the press release says.
“I understand the captain. A monkey with air conditioning is not dangerous,” journalist Maxim Ravreba, who was forced to leave Kyiv after the victory of Euromaidan, commented on the incident on his blog.