French Air Traffic Controller Suspended After "Free Palestine" Message to Israeli Plane

The incident occurred on Monday morning, during a flight departing from Paris-CDG, the Ministry of Transport said, specifying that the controller in question belonged to the North Air Navigation Service Center (CRNA) in Athis-Mons (Essonne), which had just taken over from the control tower at Paris-CDG airport.

"The analysis of the recordings proves that the facts are established. Disciplinary proceedings have been immediately initiated. The sanction will have to be commensurate with the seriousness of the facts," Philippe Tabarot said in a post on X on Tuesday. The Minister of Transport added that these facts contravene "the rules of radio communications, which must be limited to the safety and regularity of air traffic" and demonstrate "a lack of respect for the duty of discretion of the civil servant", the status of air traffic controllers in France.

On Tuesday, an administrative investigation was opened after the Israeli airline El Al reported the incident. The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions (CRIF) of France denounced an "unacceptable incident" which "contravenes both the imperative of political neutrality and the security protocols governing exchanges between a control tower and an aircraft in the take-off phase".

This is not the first time such an incident has occurred at Paris-CDG. In mid-July 2025, a security agent working for an Air France service provider had also shouted "Free Palestine" at a group of young Israeli travelers to whom she was returning their passports, which she had kept for a long time without valid reason. Voices had been raised after the publication of the video of the scene on social networks to call for a rapid and transparent investigation. The agent was ultimately suspended.