Israel says cause of helicopter crash ‘unknown’

JERUSALEM

The cause of the crash of a military helicopter off Haifa coast in northern Israel remains unknown, a military spokesman said on Tuesday.

Two pilots were killed on Monday when a Navy helicopter crashed off the coast of Haifa on Monday. Another crew member was injured.

Army spokesman Ran Kochav ruled out that the crash was caused by an attack, citing that the possibility of an electronic attack was also weak.

“It is not clear yet whether the cause was human failure or technical error,” Kochav told local radio FM 103.

“In fact, until this moment we do not know the answer to the question, we are at the beginning of the investigation and all directions are open. Certainly, I do not know the answer to these things,” he said.

The army spokesman noted that the helicopter “fell in the water without prior contact.” He pointed out that the pilot did not have time to send distress signals.

Responding to a question about whether the crash was caused by an attack, Kochav said: “There were many reports yesterday, most of them are incorrect, we do not believe that this is a terrorist attack.”

“We are at the beginning of the investigation and fortunately one of the crew members, who is a Navy officer, is still alive, I believe that after he recovers, we can understand what happened,” Kochav said.

According to the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, the helicopter has been used in the Air Force for more than 25 years.

*Writing by Bassel Barakat from Ankara