en.malanginspirasi.com – An Ethiopian Airlines flight bound for Tel Aviv was turned back overnight between Sunday and Monday after security officials discovered that one of its pilots held Indonesian citizenship, according to a report by N12 News on Monday.
Because Indonesia lacks official diplomatic relations with Israel, Indonesian nationals are prohibited from flying into Israeli airspace due to standing security regulations.
According to N12, both security forces and airport authorities were notified of the aviator’s nationality while the aircraft was still within Ethiopian airspace, prompting them to order the plane to return.
The airline substituted the crew member with a different pilot, allowing the flight to depart once more and land safely in Israel.
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N12 reported that the carrier maintained it was unaware that the pilot was legally barred from operating flights into the country.
This incident follows an earlier security scare involving an attempted hijacking by an Omani pilot aboard a commercial flydubai flight traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
Additionally, N12 cited details from a recent meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s Intelligence Subcommittee, reporting that over 1,200 airline crew members hailing from nations without diplomatic ties to Israel—including Iran—may have previously entered the country.
Sources familiar with the session noted that these findings caught the present Transportation Ministry official by surprise.
