The sky is no limit

The dominant view within the Israel Air Force is that a technical malfunction caused the fatal helicopter accident overnight Monday, which resulted in the deaths of reserves pilots Lt. Col. Noam Ron (49) and Maj. Erez Flekser (31).

Officials have based this assessment on a few factors: an analysis of the helicopter's flight path, the fact that neither pilot signalled the IDF or radioed for help, and the investigative committee's preliminary findings at the crash site. Together, these factors suggest a sudden accident that precluded any response from the pilots, and resulted in their deaths.

As is standard, IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel immediately ordered the grounding of all Cobra helicopters following the crash, to ensure that the malfunction which downed Ron and Flekser's aircraft would not metastasize between other choppers and endanger the lives of additional pilots. The IAF wants to see its Cobra fleet in the skies again both out of operational necessity and in order to guarantee IAF pilots' confidence in the veteran aircraft. We can expect the deployment of the Cobra, which is called Tzefa (Viper) in Hebrew, within a few days, when mechanics and technicians have proven that the chopper is fit to fly.

It appears that the helicopter's ripe age did not influence the accident. Age also won't affect the IAF's decision to deploy the Cobra again. The Cobra is certainly old: The United States first began using it the 1960s, and the chopper arrived in Israel in the mid-1970s. Somewhat paradoxically, the more the Cobra flies, the safer it becomes. In its 38-year tour of duty, only four Cobra helicopters have crashed (including the one that plummeted in Monday's accident). That ratio is very low, and indicates the IAF's scrupulous safety and maintenance standards. The aircraft's operating systems have been renewed and inspected a number of times over the years, and the IAF will certainly complete a meticulous inspection during the course of this latest investigation.

The accident Monday was the first fatal accident to occur under Eshel's command. A fatal Cobra accident also happened in December 2008 under Eshel's predecessor, Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, resulting in the deaths of two crew members, Yuval Holtzman and Shai Danor. Eshel, like his predecessor, has an important task ahead of him. Besides explaining what caused the accident and deploying the Cobra fleet as soon as possible, Eshel needs to keep the bar high and ensure that accidents remain an IAF rarity.

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