Air Force inquiry says F-16 crash caused by uneven weight

An Israeli Air Force investigation into last October’s F-16 crash at an airbase in southern Israel in which Maj. Ohad Cohen Nov was killed reveals that the cause of the accident was, as believed, an “asymmetric landing” in which the plane’s weight was not evenly distributed.

The finding is part of an army report whose conclusions are being made public by the military on Thursday.

The report, delivered to the head of the Air Force in recent days, finds that Cohen Nov and his navigator followed correct procedures, but that this could not prevent the development of “an inability to control the aircraft.”

The navigator successfully ejected from the plane just before the crash, followed shortly thereafter by Cohen Nov. The difference was just 0.4 seconds, according to the Ynet news site.

The navigator made it out of the plane largely unscathed, but Cohen Nov died during the ejection, the report finds.

In light of the report, IAF chief Amir Eshel is calling for a review of asymmetric landing procedures, including test flights and retraining for pilots and navigators, the army says.

— Judah Ari Gross