Helicopter pilots who died Tuesday laid to rest

Hundreds of people attended the Wednesday morning funeral of Maj. Erez Flexer, 31, one of two pilots killed Tuesday morning when their Cobra helicopter gunship crashed near Revadim, in the south of Israel.

Udi Salant, Erez Flexer’s brother-in-law, told Ynet Tuesday of the late pilot’s unique character. “Erez is one of those people who can be called the salt of the earth,” Salant said.

“He was a man of journeys, terrain, tents, the land of Israel. He hiked across the country. In addition, he loved carpentry. He would collect wood and furniture and repair and reassemble it. Just last Saturday we finished building a computer table stand together.”

Flexer studied physics at Tel Aviv University and was set to begin working on his doctorate. He is survived by his wife and four-month-old baby, Uri.

The funeral was held in the military cemetery in Herzliya.

The second pilot, Lt. Col. Noam Ron, 49, was laid to rest Wednesday afternoon in Ramat Hasharon.

An initial investigation has revealed that a technical failure, likely the rear rotor disconnecting from the aircraft, caused the crash.

The veteran pilots, who were on a routine flight exercise, did not radio in any word of technical difficulties. The pilots even reported that they had “six minutes to landing” before losing touch with command headquarters.

“Noam was a great man who served 60 and sometimes even 120 days of reserve duty a year,” Ron’s brother Yoni told Ynet Tuesday. “Like now, he always flew when we all went to sleep; I didn’t even know he was in training.”

“I heard about the accident when representatives from the army came to my house, accompanied by my parents, who had already received the news. My dad told me to open the gate and already I realized that the most terrible thing had happened,” he said.

Noam Ron lived in Oranit with his wife and three daughters. His youngest daughter was named after his brother, Eyal, also a helicopter pilot, who was killed 16 years ago in an accident during a trip to the Judean Desert.

Ron recalled the last time he had seen Noam and said he never had any fear of his brother getting hurt.

“Last Friday, we celebrated one of our nephews’ birthday. We all met, we ate and were happy together. We did not live in constant fear that something like this would happen. It is like when people take the wheel and drive, it is not a fear that you live with,” he said.

Mickey Bar, a close friend of Ron who served with him, told Ynet that Ron “was a very experienced pilot, a veteran in the ranks. He started off as a Cobra helicopter pilot and continued to fly them throughout his service. He has an operational track record and he took part in many combat missions.”

Bar also asserted that the accident was not due to human error. “Ron trained generations of pilots,” Bar said. “I do not think there was a problem with the qualifications of the pilots.”