An Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv was forced to turn around in the air overnight from Sunday 11 to Monday 12 October because Israel would not let it land with an Indonesian pilot on board, according to Hebrew media reports1. Israel and Indonesia have no diplomatic relations1. Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 (N12) reported that the aircraft was about an hour into the flight, and still in Ethiopian airspace, when the order was issued2. The aircraft returned to Addis Ababa, where the pilot was replaced by one cleared to fly to Israel, and the flight then departed again and landed in Tel Aviv23. For pilots working for international carriers, the case shows how a crew member's passport, not only their licence and type rating, now decides who can be rostered on a flight.

What happened

According to Ynet, the crew manifest reached Israeli authorities only after the aircraft had left Ethiopia, and a check then showed that one of the pilots held Indonesian citizenship3. The list went to Israel's National Passenger Screening Center; under a 2023 law the database is meant to provide crew nationality 48 hours before departure, but Ynet reports that it can only do so close to departure3. Channel 12, as cited by The Jerusalem Post, also reported that security forces and airport personnel had been informed and ordered the aircraft to turn back4. Israel has not said publicly which body formally took the decision. According to Channel 12, the airline said it had not known that the pilot was not allowed to fly to Israel, and Africanews reports that Ethiopian Airlines described the incident as a mistake42.

Israel's new crew nationality rules

The incident follows new Israeli rules introduced after flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on 30 September, on which the Omani co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain5. The Times of Israel reports that the case revealed that hundreds of crew members from countries it described as "enemy states" had flown into Israel, and that the Transportation Ministry has said it does not have the intelligence apparatus needed to check foreign airlines and their crews1. On 4 October, Channel 12 reported that the ministry had sent a notice to foreign carriers barring crew members who hold citizenship of 27 countries without formal diplomatic relations with Israel from operating or travelling on Israel-bound flights6. Public broadcaster Kan later reported that the ministry's Aviation Security Operations Center had issued a series of new and updated directives, which bar pilots and flight attendants who hold citizenship of such countries, including dual nationals5. "The airline is exclusively responsible for ensuring that all flight crew members do not hold citizenship, or are not dual nationals, of countries that do not have official diplomatic relations with the State of Israel," the directive reportedly says5.

Israel has not published an official list of countries. A United Airlines scheduling memo, cited by ch-aviation, lists 29 countries, including Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and cautions that the list may not be exhaustive7. French investigative site Mediapart listed 31 countries, according to Haaretz5. At least 10 African countries appear on the United list, among them Algeria, Libya, Niger, Somalia and Sudan8. Air France said it is required to comply with the entry requirements of the countries it serves, for customers and staff alike, and that the employees concerned had been informed7.

Landing rights, overflight and the Chicago Convention

Under Article 1 of the Chicago Convention, every state has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory9. Aircraft on non-scheduled flights have the right to fly into or across another contracting state and to make stops for non-traffic purposes without prior permission, but that right is subject to the state's right to require landing (Article 5)9. Scheduled international air services may only operate over or into a state with its special permission or other authorisation (Article 6)9. Article 13 adds that a state's laws on the admission of passengers, crew or cargo, such as immigration and passport rules, must be complied with on entry, departure and while within its territory9.

Ethiopian Airlines has run into the limits of these rights before, over an overflight permit rather than crew. In January 2019, Indonesian fighter jets intercepted an Ethiopian Boeing 777F, ET-AVN, that had entered Indonesian airspace without an overflight permit, and forced it to land at Batam1011. The airline said at the time that the non-scheduled flight was crossing Indonesian airspace under Article 5 of the Chicago Convention, which it said allows a non-scheduled flight to overfly a friendly country without prior permission, while recognising that authorities may require the aircraft to land10. Air law professor Vincent Correia of McGill University told Al Jazeera that provisions of the Chicago Convention allow states to set rules for the admission of crew, and that the new Israeli measure in practice applies only to dual nationals, because crew from countries without relations were already barred12.

What this means for pilots at international cargo airlines

The rules put the burden of checking nationality on the operator's crew planning5. According to its memo, United has asked affected employees to arrange changes to their assignments and is building the requirements into its crew-planning systems7. In France, Paris-based anti-discrimination lawyer Clara Gandin told Al Jazeera that the measure rests on a collective presumption amounting to discriminatory bias, citing the French Labour Code's ban on discrimination based on nationality12. Correia warned that if other countries adopted similar measures, it could quickly become extremely difficult to manage12.

For pilots, a second nationality can now decide whether they can be rostered on a flight to Israel. Under the directive, the airline is solely responsible for ensuring that no crew member holds a barred citizenship5, although an Air France memo seen by Mediapart warned that failure to comply could expose both the airline and the employee to sanctions12.

What is not yet known

The flight number, aircraft type and registration of the flight that was turned back have not been officially confirmed. Open ADS-B data show an Ethiopian Airlines flight, ETH3414, landing at Ben Gurion on the morning of 12 October, but the data do not cover Ethiopian airspace, so they cannot show whether this was the same flight13. It is also not known whether the Indonesian pilot was the captain or the first officer, or whether Israel will take any action against the airline over the late crew list. Indonesian authorities have not commented publicly so far.

Frequently asked questions

Can a country refuse to let a foreign pilot land?

Yes. Each state has sovereignty over its airspace, and its rules on the admission of crew apply on entry, departure and while within its territory9. Israel's directive makes the airline responsible for making sure no crew member holds the citizenship of a country without diplomatic relations with Israel5.

Does the Israeli rule cover pilots with dual nationality?

Yes. According to the directive as reported by Kan and quoted by Haaretz, it covers crew who are dual nationals of a country without official diplomatic relations with Israel5. The United memo cautions that its list of 29 countries may not be exhaustive7.