El Al Denies Security Threat From Rogue In-Flight Communication, But Planes Are Still Avoiding Oman Airspace Shortcut Since October 7th

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i24 has a breathless report about an “attempted El Al communication network takeover” on an El Al flight from Phuket to Tel Aviv.

“In a concerning sequence of events for Israeli aviation, hostile elements reportedly attempted to seize control of the communication network on an El Al flight traveling from Phuket, Thailand, to Ben Gurion Airport in Israel…Despite the alarming nature of the attempted takeover, the flight managed to reach its intended destination and land safely, averting a potentially catastrophic situation.”

Air Traffic Control uses radio frequencies that can be accessed by the public. You can listen to them, but it would be unlawful to communicate on them. In the US, you can record ATC audio, though that isn’t allowed within Israeli airspace.

Planes have multiple other methods of secure in-flight communication, though they typically don’t need them. Aircraft on long-haul routes fly for hours without ATC communication.

It sounds like in this case, some rogue parties, perhaps Houthis, perhaps parties in Somalia or Somaliland, communicated fake instructions on those channels.

El Al pilots had already been warned of such a possibility and were told to switch to more secure communication methods if that were to occur. The airline provided this statement to DansDeals,

“The Somali Civil Aviation Authority recently updated all international airlines regarding anticipated communications disruptions in the region. EL AL pilots were also notified, and instructed to utilize alternative communication methods in the event of such disruptions.

It’s important to stress that these disruptions did not target EL AL aircraft and did not pose a security issue. Thanks to the exceptional professionalism of our pilots, who seamlessly transitioned to alternative communication methods, the disruption did not impact the course of the flight, allowing it to proceed along the planned route without incident.”

So no, this wasn’t a big deal or an attempted “aerial ATC hijacking.” Just some clowns with a $30 radio that airlines in the region have been notified might happen.

What is worth noting is that the flight from Phuket to Tel Aviv flew via the Red Sea region, including over Somalia/Somaliland.

In February 2023, El Al flights finally received permission to fly over Oman for a shortcut to destinations like India and Thailand, while opening up new possibilities like flights to Melbourne.

Flights to Dubai continue to fly over Saudi airspace, but those flights don’t need to operate over Oman.

Flying over Oman to Thailand before October 7th:

However, El Al hasn’t flown over Omani airspace since the October 7th attacks. I have heard various reasons for that, including flights being too close to Iran and the inability to get permission to route them farther away from Iran. It’s a shame that there still hasn’t been a resolution for that.