Israel bans United Airlines pilot over Iran sympathies weeks after flydubai hijacking attempt

The Transportation Ministry has notified United Airlines on Wednesday that one of its pilots has been barred from entry to Israel as a crew member because of his history of Iranian sympathies.

The Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Ministry forwarded information that the pilot, Sina Amjadian, shared political and pro-Iranian regime posts on his social media accounts.

The case raises new questions regarding the vetting process for foreign airline crews, coming just weeks after an attempted hijacking aboard a flydubai flight en route to Israel.

Amjadian - a pilot of Iranian descent employed by United Airlines - shared images on social media featuring Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, alongside Islamic Republic flags, while criticizing Israeli military strikes in Iran.

Recent reports indicate that the pilot currently resides in Dubai. His LinkedIn profile states that he previously worked for flydubai before joining United.

Transportation Ministry officials stated that the information uncovered by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry was initially passed to the Transportation Ministry's Security Department, which then forwarded it to Israeli intelligence and defense agencies. After reviewing the findings, security officials recommended prohibiting Amjadian from entering Israel as flight crew.

A formal notice was then sent to United Airlines, and the pilot's details were submitted to both the Israeli Aviation Security Center and the Population and Immigration Authority to block his air entry.

However, the Transportation Ministry clarified that following inquiries with United, it was determined that Amjadian does not operate international routes. Instead, he flies domestic routes within the United States and Canada. Consequently, the directive does not alter any existing flight assignments to Israel.

Among the content Amjadian shared was a video showing people carrying portraits of Khamenei alongside Iranian flags and a black heart emoji. In an Instagram story dated June 15, 2025, he shared a memorial post for a Mahan Air flight attendant and her family members who were allegedly killed in an Israeli strike on their home in Tehran. Alongside the post, he wrote in English: "Since when did aircrew become military targets?!"

Reports from that period identified the flight attendant as Mahnoosh Haji Soltani, who was killed on the night of June 14 in Tehran's Narmak neighborhood. Citing the Iranian aviation news site Can News, the outlet IranWire reported that her home was destroyed by the blast wave during Israeli strikes.

In another Farsi post, Amjadian accused an unidentified entity of hypocrisy and of disrespecting others' beliefs. In a separate story, he shared an edited image depicting young girls with wings alongside soccer players, captioned in English: "We will never forget Minab." The post was timestamped June 27, without specifying the year.

Minab is a city in southern Iran where the "Shajareh Tayyiba" girls' primary school was struck on February 28, 2026. According to Iranian authorities, 168 children - mostly young girls - were killed in the attack. In March, Reuters cited US officials indicating that preliminary findings pointed to potential American involvement in the strike. However, due to the lack of a year on the story timestamp, it cannot be definitively confirmed whether the post referred to that specific incident.

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) researcher Travis Hawley also published a thread attributing expressions of support for the Iranian regime and Hezbollah to Amjadian. Among other claims, Hawley alleged that the pilot shared a video in which he kisses the emblem of the Islamic Republic and salutes. These claims have not been independently verified.

The incident has reopened debate over who is responsible for screening foreign airline personnel entering Israel. According to Dani Shenar, who headed the Security Department at the Ministry of Transport from 1987 to 2017, a 2003 government decision assigned the department full responsibility for vetting foreign aircrews. Under this agreement, airlines are required to submit personnel data as part of the landing permit authorization process.

However, in this instance, as in previous cases, the Diaspora Affairs Ministry raised the initial red flags about the pilot rather than the Transportation Ministry's Security Department. Only after the information was handed over did authorized agencies initiate a background check, culminating in the directive sent to United.

This oversight issue previously surfaced following an attempted hijacking on a flydubai flight on September 30, when an Omani first officer attacked the captain during a flight from Dubai to Israel. The aircraft entered a steep dive before crew members and passengers managed to subdue the attacker and avert a catastrophe. The flight made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

That incident triggered harsh criticism of the security clearance apparatus for foreign aircrews. At the time, the Transportation Ministry's Security Department argued that intelligence background checks fell outside its scope and noted that it had not been provided with the names of flydubai pilots in advance. A senior department official explained that the ministry relies on background checks conducted by the airlines themselves and by security authorities in the countries of departure.

Alongside public scrutiny over aviation security procedures, Israel Police have launched an inquiry into two senior officials within the Transportation Ministry’s Security Department: Avri Cohen, head of the Security, Emergency, and Cyber Division, and Dvir Rubinstein, manager of the Aviation Security Operations Center.

Reports indicate that Rubinstein is under investigation for a potential conflict of interest after it emerged that he provided paid training modules to foreign airlines, including flydubai and Emirates, while overseeing their security protocol compliance. Rubinstein works for the ministry as an external contractor, not a state employee.

Cohen is under review for secondary employment in foreign aviation security operations without the required clearance from the Civil Service Commission. Authorities emphasized that these are preliminary inquiries and do not constitute formal charges or findings of wrongdoing. The Transport Ministry previously stated that Rubinstein's side contracts were fully authorized under the law and carried out outside his official working hours.

According to recent reports, Transportation Minister Miri Regev insisted that responsibility for vetting foreign flight crews remain with her ministry's Security Department rather than being transferred to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The decision adds to lingering questions about agency jurisdiction and Israel's ability to detect internal crew threats on incoming flights.

In response to the report, the Transportation Ministry stated that it is not an intelligence agency and is not responsible for monitoring social media networks. It noted that the information regarding Amjadian was flagged by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry and was acted upon immediately once received.

The ministry added that its Security Department passed the information to the relevant Israeli security and intelligence agencies, conducted a direct inquiry with United Airlines management, and reviewed the case details. Following the presentation of findings to defense officials, a recommendation was issued to bar the pilot from flying into Israel as a crew member, and formal notification was sent to the airline accordingly.

While the incident highlights gaps in early warning systems for foreign flight crews, there is no evidence linking Amjadian to the flydubai hijacking attempt, nor do his social media posts directly prove involvement in terror activities.

The directive regarding Amjadian comes approximately three weeks after the attempted hijacking of the flydubai flight from Dubai to Israel, which ended in an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. On September 30, the first officer assaulted the captain inside the cockpit, causing the aircraft to rapidly lose altitude until crew members regained control.

According to a reconstruction published by Walla, the plane was carrying roughly 170 passengers, almost all of whom were Israeli citizens. During the cockpit struggle, the aircraft plummeted more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) in under a minute. Once the crew re-established control, they broadcast emergency squawk code 7500, indicating unlawful interference or a hijacking in progress.

Following the event, Israeli defense officials recommended pausing flydubai flights to Israel pending the conclusion of the investigation. The crisis fueled widespread criticism of foreign aircrew vetting procedures and brought renewed scrutiny to the Transportation Ministry's oversight division.

No information links Amjadian to the flydubai incident, and authorities have not indicated that the ban against him was directly triggered by that event.