Israel returns an Ethiopian cargo plane due to the pilot's Indonesian nationality

Tel Aviv - Ofoq News - An Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane, which took off at dawn yesterday, Monday, at Addis Ababa airport, was prevented from entering Israel after it was found that one of its crew members was Indonesian - a country with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations.

The passenger list did not arrive in Israel until after take-off, and after inspection, it was found that the pilot had Indonesian citizenship. The plane was prevented from entering Israeli airspace, turned back, and emptied its fuel into the sea. At the Ethiopian airport, the Indonesian pilot was replaced by another pilot authorized to enter Ben Gurion Airport.

This comes, according to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, in the wake of an attempted hijacking of a Flydubai plane by pilot Humam Al-Hamami, who holds Omani nationality - a country with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations - the issue of checking the lists of air crew members who is supposed to do so arose.