Israeli F-16
Photo: AFP
Near miss in the skies of Israel
Two IDF F-16s approach flight path of Ryanair passenger plane heading to Ovdah airport; IDF, Transportation Ministry investigating incident.
Two F-16 fighter jets got dangerously close to a Ryanair Boeing 737 plane on its approach into Ovdah airport near Eilat on Tuesday afternoon.
The jets took off on a routine training mission and got within three miles of the Ryanair aircraft. The Air Force jets, which were taking off for training, continued as planned while an investigation was opened.
F-16 takes off from Ovdah airport in joint drills with Greece (Photo: EPA)
The flight crew of the plane, which came from Krakow in Poland, reported that two Israeli fighter jets - out of a formation of four - got dangerously close to the aircraft, which was carrying 162 passengers.
However, Ryanair disputes the claims, saying in an official statement that "this flight from Krakow to Eilat's Ovdah Airport was cruising at 27,000 ft in Israeli airspace when two military aircraft (over three miles away) were noticed by the crew ascending towards the Ryanair aircraft flight path. The crew notified local ATC and the military aircraft descended away from the Ryanair jet, which continued on to Eilat Ovdah and landed without incident."
