Two Israeli Pilots Killed in Suspicious Helicopter Crash Off Coast of Haifa (+Video)


Two Israeli Pilots Killed in Suspicious Helicopter Crash Off Coast of Haifa (+Video)

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Two Israeli pilots were killed on Monday night after their military helicopter suspiciously crashed off the coast of Haifa in northern parts of occupied Palestine.

A third crew member was reportedly recovered and taken to Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center for treatment with moderate injuries. The hospital said he was in stable condition, being treated in its shock ward and would then be moved to its intensive care unit for further treatment.

The other two crew members were pulled from the water by search-and-rescue teams, according to the Time of Israel.

The Israeli military said the survivor was a patrol officer. The type of helicopter that crashed is usually crewed by a pilot, a co-pilot and a naval officer.

The helicopter went down in the Mediterranean Sea just off the port city of Haifa. The crash happened close enough to the coast for city residents to see flames from the shore and call it in to police.

Channel 12 of Israel said the helicopter was flying at a low altitude prior to the crash.

An air force officer said the helicopter had taken off for a training exercise around 8 p.m. and crashed about an hour later.

Israeli Air Force chief Amikam Norkin grounded all helicopters of the type that crashed, halted all air force training flights and appointed a team to investigate the crash.

The specific cause of the crash was not immediately known, but the Israeli military claimed that it appeared to be the result of a technical malfunction.

Video footage taken just after the crash, which was quickly shared on social media, showed flaming wreckage not far off the coast. In one video, it appeared that the helicopter caught fire before hitting the water.

 

 

The helicopter was a Eurocopter AS565 Panther. The aircraft is used primarily for missions at sea as it is capable of landing on Navy ships, specifically Sa’ar-5 class models.

Fragments of the helicopter began washing onto shore soon after the crash.

According to the military, the helicopter was taking part in a training exercise when it went down.

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