The pilot of a small plane was killed Friday morning when the aircraft crashed in an open field in northern Israel.
The crash occurred just before 8:45 a.m. between the towns of Kfar Yehezkel and Merhavia in the Jezreel Valley.
MDA emergency first responders and local fire and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene of the crash.
Authorities say the plane took off from a nearby airfield, but soon after suddenly plummeted some 700 feet, crashing into the ground.
The pilot was declared dead at the scene. Police have identified the crash victim as a 72-year-old man.
“We came to some farm land and saw a small plane which had crashed into the ground,” recalled MDA paramedic Lior Malka. “There was a man, roughly 60 years of age, trapped inside the plane. Rescue teams on the scene managed to pull him from the plane. We performed medical checks, but the man had no vital signs and we were forced to declare his death.”