This incident has raised concerns about the behavior of Ethiopian pilots as well as Ethiopia Airlines' operations in recent months.
Flight ET-3717, operated by an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767-300 freighter registered in Ethiopia, took off from Liege, Belgium, on October 15, 2022, en route to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was reported that the plane lost radio contact when it entered Croatian airspace.
This prompted a search for the plane after its radio contact was lost and no trace of it was discovered.
According to a statement from the Hellenic Air Force's AeroTime, the Southern European Air Operations Center was given the authority to cancel flight ET-3717.
Before landing in Addis Abeba, the plane was supposed to fly through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece.
According to a Hellenic Air Force spokesman, Flight ET-3717 was intercepted 10 nautical miles south of Kithira Island, where radio communication between the aircraft and ATC was restored.
After hours of confusion, the plane finally landed in Addis Abeba, and no accidents were reported.
Flight ET343 was flying from Khartoum to Addis Abeba at 37,000 feet (FL370) on August 15, 2022, when the two pilots fell asleep on the flight deck. This incident put the passengers on the plane in danger, so the company suspended operations and revoked the pilot's license.
In the past, an Ethiopian Airlines plane carrying passengers was also found to be carrying weapons.
All of these incidents, and others, have raised concerns about Ethiopian Airlines' reliability.