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Aeroflot plane violates ban by declaring itself a “humanitarian flight”.
Transport Canada says it will look into how an Aeroflot plane violated its ban on Russian planes entering Canadian airspace.
In a Twitter post Sunday night, the department confirmed that flight SU111 originated in Miami and flew through Canadian airspace roughly five hours after restrictions were implemented.
According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, the Moscow-bound plane flew over parts of New Brunswick, Quebec and Labrador.
In a statement on Monday, Nav Canada, the non-profit company that runs Canada’s civil air navigation service, said the aircraft was allowed to proceed as it had declared itself a “humanitarian flight” and that air traffic controllers took the declaration at “face value” under the existing protocols.
“The pilot was informed the flight was not to enter Canadian airspace, according to the [Notice to Airmen],” Nav Canada said.
“The pilot indicated he was aware of the NOTAM but declared the flight a humanitarian flight and would enter Canadian airspace.
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“Under normal circumstances, Nav Canada does not have the authority to deny airspace access to an airborne aircraft declaring itself a humanitarian flight, medical emergency/MEDEVAC or an emergency flight.”
Since the first flight succeeded in entering Canadian airspace, two other Russian aircraft attempted to declare themselves humanitarian, but were refused to enter.
Transport Canada is investigating both Aeroflot and Nav Canada concerning the incident.
“We are launching a review of the conduct of Aeroflot and the independent air navigation service provider, NAVCAN, leading up to this violation. We will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action and other measures to prevent future violations,” the agency wrote in Tweet late Sunday.
Dozens of countries have closed their airspace to Russian planes in retaliation for the military invasion of Ukraine.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen announced the airspace ban would prohibit flights into or over the EU by “every Russian plane – and that includes the private jets of oligarchs”.
The UK Department of Transport barred Russian commercial and civilian aircraft from British airspace on Friday.
The United States airspace however remains open to flights from Russia.
