Questions remained unanswered as the Israeli military commences its investigation into the deadly military helicopter crash that killed 2 pilots off the coast of Haifa Monday night. Three other crew members were rescued. One crew member, who was pulled from the water, reported to be in stable condition, but the condition of the two others is unknown at this time.
The crash, which occurred around 9:00 p.m. on Monday, is believed to have been caused by a technical malfunction, but until the military conducts a full investigation, including examining recovered parts of the helicopter, it is too early to exclude human error. Israeli Airforce Chief of Operations Brig.-Gen. Amir Lazar advised that no emergency distress calls were heard on the radio before the accident and that the helicopter had “disappeared from the monitoring screen,” after which the Airforce activated a rescue mission in coordination with the Israeli Police’s Naval Unit.
The fallen pilots, Lt.-Col. Erez Sachaini and 27-year-old- Major Hen Fogal were found in the cockpit of the sunken helicopter, despite it being equipped with a floatation system.
While the investigation continues, officials believe “a serious fault of one of the engines” caused the crash.
