Erica blog

Two killed in Israeli fighter jet crash: media

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Rescue crews on Thursday recovered the bodies of two Israeli air force pilots killed when their F-16 jet crashed during a training mission in the country's south, media reports said.

The military said it had recovered the black box from the fighter but declined to confirm reports the bodies had been found, still officially listing the two men, a 28-year-old pilot and a 30-year-old navigator, as missing.

But Israeli media said members of the military rabbinate had found the body parts of the two men who were killed after their fighter jet crashed into a mountainous region in the Ramon Crater in the southern Negev desert.

The accident occurred late on Wednesday but the military censor barred publication of the news until the families of the crew had been notified.

The aircraft involved in the crash was a US-made F-16I fighter, custom designed for the Israeli air force and believed to be capable of reaching arch-foe Iran.

This was the first crash involving the model.

Air force commander Ido Nehushtan ordered an investigation into the accident and has temporarily grounded the F-16I fleet, the military said.

Initial indications suggest the accident was caused by "pilot error," army radio reported.

In July, six Israelis and a Romanian were killed when an Israeli Sikorski CH-53 helicopter crashed into a mountainous area near Bucharest during a joint Romanian-Israeli drill.