Israeli authorities ordered an Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane to return to Addis Ababa on Monday after discovering that one of its pilots was Indonesian, denying the aircraft permission to land at Ben Gurion Airport under tightened aviation security restrictions.
The aircraft had been airborne for approximately an hour on its way to Tel Aviv when Israeli officials issued the order, according to Israel’s Channel 12. The plane returned to the Ethiopian capital, where the Indonesian pilot was replaced. It subsequently resumed its journey and landed in Israel.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel. Israeli regulations prohibit flight crews from designated countries without diplomatic ties, including Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, from operating flights to Israel.
The incident followed a September 30 attempted attack aboard Flydubai Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. United Arab Emirates prosecutors said an Omani co-pilot attacked the captain and attempted to crash the aircraft into Ben Gurion Airport. Passengers and crew subdued the attacker, and the plane landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
The Ethiopian flight also exposed continuing problems with Israel’s aviation screening procedures. According to Israeli media reports, the crew manifest reached authorities only after departure, allowing officials to identify the pilot’s nationality while the plane was already airborne.
There was no indication that the Indonesian pilot had engaged in threatening behavior.
Ethiopian Airlines described the assignment as a mistake, saying it had not known the pilot was ineligible to operate flights to Israel, according to Channel 12.
The incident follows criticism of coordination between Israeli aviation and security agencies. The Transportation Ministry has acknowledged that it lacks independent intelligence-screening capabilities and relies partly on information provided by foreign airlines.
Although the latest flight was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace, questions persist about why crew information is still being processed after takeoff rather than before departure.