During a Sept. 30 Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, an Omani co-pilot attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with an axe in an unsuccessful attempt to hijack the plane.
In the wake of the incident, Israeli carriers, including El Al, Israir, and Arkia, have suspended flights to destinations such as Dubai and Marrakech following Israeli government authorities’ push for airports in those countries to institute stricter screening measures.
The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also implemented a far-reaching ban on pilots and cabin crew from 31 countries across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia from flying a plane into Israel, Business Insider Africa reported.
The banned nationalities include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Oman, Algeria, Qatar, and Kuwait, among others.
Israel bans United Airlines pilot after pro-Iran posts discovered online
In a separate decision, Israel’s Transport Ministry has banned an American United Airlines pilot from entering Israel as a crew member, The Jerusalem Post confirmed.
This comes after intelligence authorities discovered a number of pro-Iranian and pro-Hezbollah posts believed to have been posted on his social media accounts.
One of the posts made by Captain Sina Amjadian is reported to be a video of him kissing the emblem of the regime led by the Supreme Leader, as The Jerusalem Post noted, while another expresses support for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Islamist militant group Hezbollah.
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The posts circulated on social media but were not confirmed to be original by Israeli authorities, which means that Amjadian was flagged by a security review and banned as a precautionary measure.
A recommendation was made “not to allow his arrival in Israel as a member of an aircrew,” a spokesperson for Israel’s Transport Ministry said in a statement cited by The Times of Israel.
Banned pilot never operated plane that could fly to Israel: United
Amjadian is an American of Iranian descent but was reported to have been living in Dubai since 2024, The Jerusalem Post noted.
In a comment on the situation, United confirmed that the pilot has previously been based out of LAX but has been on a leave of absence since 2024, TheTravel reported. There was also no situation in which he could have flown to Israel, as the Boeing 737 he previously operated lacks the range for a long-haul flight and was used exclusively for flights within the U.S. and Canada.
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Amjadian’s LinkedIn profile shows that he took a position as a commercial pilot for United in 2022, after previously flying a Boeing 737 for Flydubai for seven years beginning in 2015.
United did not elaborate on whether Amjadian’s leave of absence was voluntary or mandated by the airline due to some kind of prior incident. Amjadian could not be immediately reached for comment on Israel’s ban.
Related: Air Canada cancels all flights to U.S. state due to low demand
