רב-סרן אוהד כהן נוב על רקע מטוס הF16
רב-סרן אוהד כהן נוב על רקע מטוס הF16צילום: פלאש 90, דובר צה"ל

In front of the Cohen-Nov house in Moshav Mazor there is a large boulder engraved with the names of those who fell in Israel's wars and stemmed from the town. Yesterday, another name was added to the list; the name of the pilot Major Ohad Cohen-Nov.

Major Cohen Nov, who began serving in a new position only one week ago, as deputy flight commander of “Atalef”, an F16 airbase, went on a mission to strike Gaza yesterday in response to the rocket fire on Sderot Wednesday morning.

Cohen Nov was killed during a crash landing of his F-16 fighter jet in southern Israel on Wednesday evening. The aircraft's navigator ejected from the plane and escaped without injury.

The jet, which was landing at Ramon air force base in the Negev, caught fire when returning from the operation in the Gaza strip.

Cohen Nov, who was 34 when he died, is survived by his pregnant wife, Shachar, and their young daughter. These past years he lived on Ramon Airbase and he will be remembered as an excellent and skilled pilot by his colleagues.

“He had a heart of gold,” a friend of Cohen Nov’s told Yediot Aharonot, “he was happy with a genuine good heart, he always smiled and was nice and generous. He loved challenges and was a great pilot. He had everything.”

“He was an incredible person, I’m filled with sorrow now,” another pilot and close friend of Ohad’s mourned.

Ohad’s father, Dorion Cohen-Nov, was also a skilled pilot and is considered a legend in the pilot community after his long career with El Al. In 2003 he was serving on the El Al board of directors but left after refusing to sign a privatization agreement claiming that details about the agreement were kept hidden from the board.

Later, he served as director of the Pilot’s Union and fought for workers’ rights for pilots as well as working to improve security at Ben Gurion International Airport.