Air France Pilot Fights Flight Ban Over Alleged Radicalization Concerns

"The fact that my name is associated with the terrorist threat is terrible. I have nothing to do with all this, I understand the precautionary principle, I myself want to go home in the evening to see my children," said the pilot before the college of three administrative judges seized in summary proceedings.

Since October 15, this 35-year-old airline pilot and father of three children has had his authorization to access the airport security areas revoked by a joint order of the Paris police prefecture and the Loire-Atlantique prefecture.

He is mainly accused of his friendship with a former colleague at Air Algérie and HOP!, arrested for radicalization, as well as of having prayed and observed the Ramadan fast during his working hours, thus violating the rules imposed on flight personnel. The authorities also mention his attendance at the Tremblay-en-France mosque, the closest to the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, and a mosque in the 10th arrondissement of Paris.

During the hearing, the pilot’s lawyer refuted these accusations, evoking a "lack of precise and detailed elements" in a file "organized with a form of haste". With photographs of him with female colleagues at the beach, testimonies from flight personnel on his behavior and his exemplary career and open-mindedness, the lawyer described the accused as a "moderate Muslim".

The court’s decision is expected at the end of the week.