Separate funeral services were held in various parts of Israel today for ten air-borne soldiers killed when their helicopter crashed into the sea off northern Sinal near El Arish Thursday. The bodies were discovered and identified after a two-day search by combined Army. Air force and Navy teams. The names of the crash victims were not disclosed. An Air Force inquiry commission headed by a Lt. Col, has been set up to investigate the causes of the accident. Debria from the helicopter was still being fished out of the sea today. A military spokesman said the possibility of sabotage was virtually ruled out by a preliminary investigation. He said it was most probable that human error was responsible for the tragedy.
The helicopter was reported missing Thursday afternoon. Shortly afterwards a Bedouin tribesman reported that he had seen a low flying helicopter crash into the sea after being struck by waves. Post mortems disclosed that the occupants of the helicopter died as a result of the impact when the aircraft struck the sea.
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