After the killing of two officers, Israel freezes all air exercises and the use of helicopters

The Israeli army announced, at dawn on Tuesday, that two of its officers were killed and a third sustained moderate injuries on Monday night, when their helicopter crashed in the Mediterranean during a training flight, indicating that it had opened an investigation into the accident.

The army said in a statement that the naval helicopter, a "Atalif" type, had a crew of three on board, when it crashed into the sea off the coast of the city of Haifa (north) during a training mission.

The statement indicated that immediately after the accident, rescue teams, including crews from the Israeli navy, rushed to retrieve the three crew members, who are two pilots and an air traffic controller.

He added that after the three officers were rescued, attempts were made to revive the pilots, but they died, while the air traffic controller "was injured of moderate severity."

Following the incident, the commander of the Israeli Air Force, General Amikam Norkin, ordered a freeze on all air exercises and a temporary halt to the use of Ataliv helicopters. He also formed a committee headed by a senior officer to investigate the causes of this accident.

In its statement, the army did not mention the possible causes of this incident, which is rarely witnessed by the Israeli Air Force.

According to the Israeli channel "Kan" TV, both Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid were informed of the incident.

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