An Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv was asked to turn back by Israel after it was discovered that one of the pilots was an Indonesian citizen (WNI), according to Israeli media reports.
Hot Topics
Texas launches first test flights of electric flying taxi in the United States
900 novice swimmers compete in the Junior Swimming Championships
the plane had been in the air for an hour, although still in Ethiopian airspace, when Israeli authorities asked it to turn back.
The report said the pilot's nationality had been flagged by Israeli intelligence and airport authorities, leading Israeli security and transportation authorities to refuse the flight permission to land in Israel.
The plane returned to Addis Ababa, then the Indonesian pilot was replaced by another pilot, before taking off again and landing at its original destination in Tel Aviv.
Ethiopian Airlines admitted there was an error regarding the incident because they were not aware that the Indonesian pilot was prohibited from flying to Israel.
Channel 12 also said Israeli authorities have asked foreign airlines not to assign pilots from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel to fly to the country.
The restrictions apply to pilots from Afghanistan, Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Niger, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Venezuela.
There has been no response from the Ethiopian or Indonesian governments regarding the incident.
The incident followed an attempted hijacking of a FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30.
The United Arab Emirates prosecutor's office said that in the incident, an Omani co-pilot attempted to seize control of the plane and crash it into Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
The hijacking was thwarted by other passengers and crew, and the plane made a safe emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Tags:
asiawest