IDF transport helicopter forced to make emergency landing after malfunction

A “Yasur” heavy transport helicopter makes an emergency landing on an Air Force base in northern Israel after the aircraft experienced a technical malfunction, in the latest in a series of incidents involving the military’s nearly 60-year-old fleet of the helicopters in recent months, the military says.

“The helicopter landed safely and there were no injuries,” the Israel Defense Forces says.

The military says the malfunction occurred while the crew was transporting a group of soldiers during “operational activities in the center of the country.”

After the malfunction occurred, the flight crew dropped the helicopter’s gas tank “in accordance with protocol” in an open field in northern Israel. “It was collected by IDF troops,” the military says.

Another Yasur helicopter collected the fighters from the air base in northern Israel and transported them to their destination, the IDF says.

— Judah Ari Gross