United Airlines pilot banned from Israeli airspace over social media
Israel has barred a United Airlines pilot, Captain Sina Amjadian, from its airspace due to alleged support for Iran and Hezbollah based on unverified social media posts. The ban highlights heightened security scrutiny of foreign aircrew following recent incidents.
Captain Sina Amjadian, an Iranian national and United Airlines pilot, has been prohibited from entering Israeli airspace. The Israeli Transportation Ministry notified United Airlines of the ban on Wednesday, citing security concerns over the pilot's alleged sympathies.
Amjadian, who resides in Dubai and has been on leave from United Airlines since 2024, does not operate routes to Israel. He flies domestic routes within the United States and Canada, so the ban does not affect his current flight assignments. United Airlines stated he is not currently flying for the airline. Amjadian previously worked for flydubai for seven years before joining United as a Boeing 737 pilot.
Security concerns stem from social media activity
Israeli authorities cited unverified social media posts linking Amjadian to Iran and its military groups as justification for the ban. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism compiled a dossier based on this online activity and submitted it to the transportation department.
The ban was based on hearsay evidence, as the Ministry never saw the alleged posts directly. Amjadian reportedly shared images featuring Iran’s supreme leader and Iranian flags, and criticized Israeli military strikes. On June 15, 2025, he posted an Instagram story memorializing Mahnoosh Haji Soltani, a Mahan Air flight attendant killed in an Israeli strike in Tehran a day earlier. OSINT researcher Travis Hawley also alleged Amjadian shared a video kissing the Islamic Republic emblem and saluting, though these claims are unverified.
The Transportation Ministry stated it acted immediately upon receiving the information and passed it to security agencies. It emphasized it is not an intelligence agency and does not monitor social networks itself.
Context of broader security crackdown
The ban is part of a public crackdown following a series of security incidents involving foreign crew. This includes a foiled terror plot by a Flydubai first officer, Hamam al-Hammami, who planned to crash a Boeing 737 into Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport.
The action against Amjadian was issued approximately three weeks after a separate flydubai hijacking attempt on September 30. On that flight, an Omani first officer attacked the captain during a Dubai-to-Israel journey. The aircraft, carrying roughly 170 passengers, plunged over 4,000 meters in under a minute before an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Israeli defense officials later recommended pausing flydubai flights to Israel, fueling criticism of foreign aircrew vetting.
In response to these events, Israel Police launched inquiries into two senior Transportation Ministry Security Department officials. Dvir Rubinstein, manager of the Aviation Security Operations Center, is under investigation for a potential conflict of interest after providing paid training to foreign airlines including flydubai and Emirates as an external contractor. Avri Cohen, head of the Security, Emergency, and Cyber Division, is under review for secondary employment in foreign aviation security without required clearance.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev has insisted that her ministry's Security Department retains responsibility for vetting foreign flight crews. Former department head Dani Shenar stated in 2003 that the department has full responsibility for this process, which includes airlines submitting personnel data for landing permits. However, in Amjadian's case, the initial red flags were raised by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, not the Transportation Ministry's own security unit.
Authorities confirm there is no evidence linking Amjadian to the flydubai hijacking attempt. The Transportation Ministry confirmed the ban was communicated to United Airlines on Wednesday, with no indication of reversal.
