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0 pointsvarispeed5y ago0 comments

That depends - they wouldn't want a plane with a bomb to explode over a city for example, so the jets could be used to "neutralise" the threat. Obviously in this case the bomb was fake and so the threat...

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3 comments · 1 top-level

ilyaeck5y ago· 2 in thread

P-lease! the case is crystal clear: the MIG was used to threaten the plane into landing!

iso12105y ago

The MIG was no doubt there to ensure the plane obeyed air traffic control

It's not unheard of for military jets to escort civilian planes to an airport, for example

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/ryanair-flight-escort...

(Of course the situation of how the bomb threat came to be is different in this case, and IMO airlines now need to avoid Belarus overflights)

varispeedOP5y ago

Have you read this? https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/09/05/911-oral-...

https://twitter.com/PavelLatushka/status/1396519000830582784

Belarusian Air Force fighter-interceptor manoeuvred to signal to the pilots of a Ryanair airliner:follow me”. The captain of the civilian aircraft was obliged to obey. The captain may have disobeyed the dispatcher's command, but the threat from a military aircraft was obligatory.

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