Israel Diverts Ethiopian Airlines Flight Over Pilot's Indonesian Citizenship
Translated & summarized from Davar by baba
An Ethiopian Airlines flight was diverted back to Addis Ababa from its route to Tel Aviv after Israel discovered a pilot held Indonesian citizenship. This unusual decision followed a recent attempted attack on a Flydubai flight by a pilot from Oman, highlighting concerns over aircrew from countries without diplomatic ties to Israel. Despite a dedicated database, the Ministry of Transport claims it is not yet fully functional for pre-flight security checks.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- An Ethiopian Airlines flight was diverted from Tel Aviv due to a pilot's Indonesian citizenship.
- Israel has no diplomatic relations with Indonesia, barring its citizens from flying into the country.
- The diversion occurred less than two weeks after an attempted attack on a Flydubai flight.
- Hundreds of aircrew from countries without diplomatic ties to Israel enter the country annually.
- A security database for aircrew has reportedly been underutilized until recently.
- The Ministry of Transport cited database limitations for pre-flight security checks.
An Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv was forced to return to Ethiopia overnight after Israeli authorities discovered one of the pilots held Indonesian citizenship. Indonesia is a country with which Israel has no diplomatic relations. In an unusual move, Israeli authorities ordered the plane back to Addis Ababa, where the airline replaced the pilot.
This incident occurred less than two weeks after an attempted attack on a Flydubai flight, where an Omani pilot allegedly planned to crash a plane carrying at least 170 Israelis en route to Tel Aviv. Similar to the Omani pilot case, pilots who are citizens of countries with which Israel has no diplomatic ties are prohibited from flying to Israel according to its aviation security regulations.
Recent data presented to a Knesset subcommittee revealed that hundreds of aircrew members who are citizens of countries without diplomatic relations with Israel enter the country annually. It also emerged that a dedicated database, the "Mal'an," established three years ago to store information on aircrew for flights entering Israel, had never been accessed by the Ministry of Transport until after the attempted attack.
The Ministry of Transport stated that the database is not practically useful at its current stage because it cannot provide information 48 hours before a flight, as required by law. They cited the current incident as support for their claim, arguing that even after connecting to the database, pilot identity information only becomes available when the plane is already airborne. This, they contend, demonstrates the database's inability to prevent a situation where a pilot from a country with no diplomatic ties to Israel is in control of a flight heading to Israel.
Despite these criticisms and issues, the ministry did utilize the database in this instance, leading to the flight's diversion and preventing a landing in Israel. The event raises questions about why Israeli authorities are still struggling to adequately monitor airlines and allow them to report pilot information only at the last minute, even two weeks after the previous security lapse.
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