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.
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.
