Ethiopian Airlines Cargo Plane Denied Entry to Israel Over Crew Member's Nationality

An Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane was denied entry into Israeli airspace and forced to return to Addis Ababa early Monday morning after it was discovered that one of its crew members was Indonesian, a country with which Israel has no diplomatic relations. The flight, which departed from Addis Ababa, was turned back after Israel received the passenger list post-takeoff and identified the Indonesian national on board. The plane then circled and burned fuel over the sea before returning to Ethiopia. The Indonesian crew member was replaced with another pilot cleared for entry into Israel, and the flight was expected to continue.

This incident appears to be a consequence of heightened security measures and stricter guidelines implemented following a previous attempted hijacking of a Fly Dubai flight by a pilot with Omani citizenship. In that case, the passenger list was not received by the Ministry of Transport, and despite assurances from the airline, the pilot was still assigned to the flight. The Ministry of Transport has faced criticism for not fully utilizing its access to a national passenger diagnostic center database, which includes information on foreign flight crews, as mandated by law since 2023.

A state comptroller's report in May 2024 had already highlighted significant failures in the security of international civilian aviation to and from Israel, including issues with foreign airlines. The report recommended a comprehensive review of aviation security policy involving multiple government bodies. Following a closed Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee discussion on the Fly Dubai incident, the Ministry of Transport finally requested immediate access to the national passenger diagnostic center for crew nationality data, a step they had not taken in three years despite previous requests.

However, the system reportedly cannot provide nationality data more than 48 hours in advance, with updates only occurring close to takeoff, rendering the information ineffective for security purposes. The Ministry of Transport has complained about this process, but it appears the current procedure of receiving crew information shortly before departure was previously established with the ministry's own approval. Tal Aviation, the company managing the flight, stated that the crew list at the time of scheduling did not include countries without diplomatic relations with Israel, and the flight would depart with a compliant crew once the issue was identified.