IDF says two killed in plane crash were soldiers

The two people killed in a plane crash in the south today were a trainer and cadet at the military’s flight school, the Israel Defense Forces says.

IDF Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman says the military is probing what caused the two-seater training plane to crash this morning outside Kibbutz Mishmar Hanegev.

“It is not clear if it was caused by a technical malfunction or human error,” he says in a briefing with reporters. “From the best of our understanding there was no discussion between the plane and the tower [indicating there was a problem] and the weather conditions were good.”

Zilberman says the lack of communication between the plane and control tower is hindering the investigation, as it is unclear when the problems aboard the plane started.

He also says that Israeli Air Force chief Amikam Norkin has halted all training flights until further notice.

— Alex Fulbright