An Ethiopian Airlines flight traveling from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv was turned back from Israeli airspace because one of its pilots was an Indonesian citizen. Israel did not allow the aircraft to land.
The decision to turn back the aircraft about an hour into the flight was made after Israeli security officials and the Transport Ministry were informed of the pilot’s nationality.
After the aircraft reached Addis Ababa, another pilot replaced the Indonesian pilot and the flight continued to Tel Aviv. Ethiopian Airlines said the incident was a mistake and that it had not known the pilot was barred from operating flights to Israel.
Restrictions on citizens of 11 countries
Israeli officials instructed foreign airlines not to assign citizens of certain countries with which Israel has no diplomatic relations as crew members on flights to Israel.

The restriction applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Niger, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Venezuela.
Authorities in Ethiopia and Indonesia did not immediately comment on the incident.
Previous incident involving a Tel Aviv flight
The latest incident came after an attempted hijacking on a Flydubai flight traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30.
Prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates said an Omani co-pilot had attempted to take control of the aircraft and crash it into Ben Gurion Airport. The passengers and crew thwarted the attempt, and the aircraft landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.