Two Israel Air Force fighter jets almost crashed into a passenger plane during training exercises in the Negev desert on Tuesday.
The Israel Air Force planes came “dangerously close” to the Ryanair passenger plane, which had 162 passengers on board, close to Ovda Airport, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the southern resort town of Eilat, Army Radio reported.
The incident occurred at 27,000 feet. The Ryanair pilots prevented a crash by changing course at the last moment, Channel 2 reported, citing the speedy and effective reaction of the Ryanair cockpit to the danger.
No injures or damage were reported. The Transportation Ministry and air force launched an investigation into the incident.
The Ryanair plane was coming in to land at Ovda, having flown in from Krakow, Ynet reported, when two F-16s flew across its path. Army Radio had said earlier that the Irish civilian airliner had just taken off from Ovda.
Four fighter jets were engaged in the exercise; two of them flew from east to west across the civilian airliner’s path.
Ireland’s Ryanair, which calls itself Europe’s cheapest commercial airline, began flying between Ovda and a number of Eastern European cities in July 2015, making it the only carrier to operate international flights to the southern resort city.
David O’Brien, Ryanair’s chief commercial officer, said at the time the new routes to Israel were launched to meet the growing demand for leisure vacations in central and Eastern Europe.
(Culled from www.timesofisrael.com)
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