DISINFO: The Ryanair pilot took the decision to perform emergency landing at Minsk
SUMMARY
The decision to land was taken by the main figure in this incident - the pilot of the aircraft. [...] the recording of the communication between the pilot and the Belarusian air traffic control [...] shows a high level of professionalism and knowledge of the English language. Air traffic control asks the pilot a highly professional question: “Who recommends the landing at the airport in Minsk, the airline, the airport of departure or the airport of destination”. The commander answers - “This is my decision”.
RESPONSE
A false representation of the communication between air traffic control and the flight crew of FR4879. The Belarusian Ministry of Transport has published the transcript of the communication. From this source, it is clear that the instructions to land at Minsk comes from air traffic control (ATC):
Pilot: 09:41:58: RYR 1TZ Again, this recommendation to divert to Minsk where did it come from?Where did it come from?Company? Did it come from departure airport authorities or arrival airport authorities?
ATC: RYR 1TZ this is our recommendations.
Pilot: can you say again?
ATC: RYR 1TZ this is our recommendations.
See related examples of disinformation messages, alleging that Belarus acted in strict accordance with international law in the Ryanair incident; Hamas sent an e-email to Minsk airport threatening to blow up a Ryanair flight over Vilnius; The Ryanair case is similar with the forced landing of Evo Morales' plane.