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March 27, 2014 4:35 pm
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Israeli Chopper Makes Emergency Landing in Palestinian Authority Controlled Territory

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avatar by Gidon Ben-Zvi

An Israel Black Hawk helicopter lands in a Golan Heights field. Photo: wiki commons.

An Israeli Air Force pilot was forced to land his Blackhawk helicopter on Tuesday in Palestinian Authority-controlled territory due to technical difficulties, Israel’s Walla reported.

After notifying his superiors about the severity of the technical problems plaguing the aircraft, the pilot immediately conducted an emergency landing in southern Hebron, located in the PA’s Area B region. The landing was safely executed and there were no injuries reported.

The IDF sent a staff of technicians to the landing site along with a team of soldiers to secure the perimeter, Walla said. The technicians worked through the night to fix the glitch, according to an IDF spokesperson.

The team sent to rescue the stranded Blackhawk crew found it hard to locate them, Israel’s Ma’ariv reported on Thursday. The head of security for the Jewish section of Hebron, Elijah Liebman, who is also a local tour guide, helped pinpoint the chopper and guide the rescue team to it.

This was the second safety-related incident the IAF faced this week. On Monday, an F-16 pilot experienced vertigo during a training flight over the Mediterranean Sea. The navigator took over the controls and safely landed the jet at its base.

In response to the rash of recent IAF close-calls, Israel Air Force Chief Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel will hold a flight safety day this week, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said. Regular training will be suspended during the safety day, though all operational activity will proceed as normal.

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