Israel bars Ethiopian Airlines jet over Indonesian pilot
The cargo jet was forced back to Addis Ababa, and the Indonesian pilot was replaced before it was cleared to land in Israel.
Israel refused to let an Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane land because one of its pilots held Indonesian citizenship. The incident took place on Sunday night, after the airline had already submitted the crew list to Israeli authorities once the aircraft had taken off. According to Israeli media reports cited by CNN Indonesia and Republika, the plane was then ordered to turn back to Addis Ababa and even dumped fuel en route before the pilot was replaced. After the crew change, the aircraft took off again and landed in Israel. The rule followed tighter security measures by Israel's Ministry of Transportation after a hijacking incident involving a Flydubai pilot on 30 September. Israel now bars pilots and crew from countries that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel from flying there.