Israel today hailed as one of its heroes an Air Force pilot who was severely, injured in a plane crash after refusing to abandon the craft until he had first jettisoned bombs, machine gun ammunition and gasoline in the Mediterranean Sea off Haifa.
The pilot was participating in a military exercise when his engine failed. He was ordered to abandon the plane and parachute to safety. However, when he realized that that he had a full load of gasoline and explosives and that the plane might land in a heavily populated area, the pilot stuck to his controls and managed to guide the engineers craft over the sea.
On his return, he glided into a dead stick landing in a field adjacent to a huge factory in the Haifa vicinity. The plane caught fire and the pilot was thrown clear, but was severely injured. The incident occurred last week, but was only revealed today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
