Cobra chopper crashes
צילום: חגי אהרון
Cobras return to action after crash
Investigation into deadly crash responsible for grounding Cobra helicopters for over a month concludes incident was caused by unprecedented technological malfunction; IAF orders all choppers to undergo preemptive maintenance
The IAF's Cobra helicopters are set to reclaim their place in the sky after an investigation left them grounded for over a month.
The Cobra crash responsible for the grounding, which took place in early September near Kibbutz Ginegar in the north, was found to have been caused by a rare incident of rotor detachment.
Two reservist pilots were killed in the crash: Major Shai Danor, 35, from Rosh HaAyin, and Major Yuval Holtzman, 40, of Matan. Immediately after the crash IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Ido Nehoshtan ordered all of the helicopters grounded, and appointed an investigating committee to inquire into the matter.
The committee has recently reached the conclusion that the helicopter suffered an unprecedented technical malfunction, causing the rotor to detach and plunging the craft downwards.
The committee determined that the Cobras could resume flights after preemptive maintenance had been performed on all of them, in order to prevent reoccurrence of the malfunction.
The AH-1 Cobra, manufactured by Bell, has been serving the Israeli army for over 20 years, performing a number of operational tasks including targeted killings. It is intended mostly for air-to-ground attacks.
