Rescue teams recovered the bodies of Israel Air Force pilot Maj. Amichai Itkis and navigator Maj. Emanuel Levy late Thursday, at the crash site of an F-16I fighter jet in the Negev.
Rescue teams recovered the bodies of Israel Air Force pilot Maj. Amichai Itkis and navigator Maj. Emanuel Levy late Thursday, at the crash site of an F-16I fighter jet in the Negev. Rescue services had been searching for Itkis and Levy since their F-16I fighter crashed on Wednesday evening in a Negev canyon. They also recovered the aircraft's black box cockpit recorder, which may shed light on the cause of the crash. The F-16I Sufa (storm) took off from the Ramon Air Force base and crashed somewhere in the area of Mitzpeh Ramon at around 8 P.M. on Wednesday. The fighter jet that crashed was leading a four aircraft training exercise when it suddenly fell to the ground, failing to report any problems before the disaster occurred. The IAF has launched an investigation into the incident and has canceled all training exercises using the F-16I jets for the time being. According to preliminary findings of an Israel Air Force investigation, human error – possibly a miscalculation in altitude – appears to have caused the crash. IAF officers said the F-16Is – Israel’s newest and most-advanced fighter jets – would remain grounded until the air force could rule out a mechanical malfunction. One possibility under investigation is that the plane’s entire electrical system shut down, preventing the crew from sending a distress call. Other possibilities are that a bird hit the aircraft and caused the crash or that the pilot miscalculated his altitude during the night flight. While the plane has systems to warn of low altitude, a pilot is able to set the altitude at which the alarm should go off. It is unclear at what altitude Itkis had set the system.Bodies of IAF F-16I Pilot, Navigator Found Human Error Possible
