Army probe rules F-16 pilot killed in crash acted correctly

The family of an F-16 pilot killed two weeks ago in a crash at the Ramon Air Force Base in the south received the preliminary report into the crash on Friday.

Maj. Ohad Cohen Nov was killed on October 5 when his F-16I fighter jet caught on fire after landing as he returned from a bombing run in the Gaza Strip following a rocket attack on Sderot earlier in the day.

The navigator, who sits behind the pilot, ejected from the plane and sustained only light injuries.

Cohen Nov, 34, is survived by a pregnant wife, a young daughter, two sisters and parents. A highly regarded pilot, he was promoted to deputy commander of the Atalef, or Bat, squadron of F-16s only a week before the incident.

According to the army, the crew members knew something was wrong as the plane was going down toward the landing strip. Cohen Nov ordered the navigator to eject first, and waited to go second. Both men managed to eject, but Cohen Nov was too late to save his life as the craft was engulfed in flames.

IAF chief Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel ordered an investigation into the incident on the day of the crash.

The preliminary report of the investigative panel, headed by an Air Force colonel, ruled that the crew, including Cohen Nov, responded appropriately to the emergency, the army said.

It did not offer further details about the cause of the crash or about the actions taken by the crew.

In a Friday statement, the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit said: “Two weeks after the deadly accident at Ramon Base in which Maj. Ohad Cohen Nov z”l was killed, the military inquiry team submitted its preliminary report, whose purpose is to determine the appropriate directions of inquiry and recommend immediate actions based on initial findings. The investigation continues.”

Air Force chief Eshel ordered “a number of immediate steps to lessen the risks in Air Force operations until the conclusion of the full investigation,” the statement added.

According to an outside expert, Cohen Nov’s jet may have been flying “asymmetrically,” with ordnance on one wing but not the other.

Eran Ramot, a former fighter pilot and researcher at the Fisher Institute for Air and Strategic Studies, said asymmetry was currently the leading theory for what caused the wreck.

However, that alone should not have caused a crash, as planes and pilots routinely fly with this imbalance, Ramot told The Times of Israel over the phone.

“There are a million and one ways to investigate crashes. You can check the recordings, speak with the navigator who was in the plane until he ejected. I assume if he bailed out, he knows why he did,” Ramot said.

“There are different techniques and some very advanced pieces of technology to check the plane’s systems,” he said.

Until the investigation is complete, there is little use in speculating on what could have caused the crash, Ramot stressed. It does not appear to have been brought down by enemy fire or any external force, he said.

“But anything is possible,” he said.