Shlomo Degani (59) from Ramat Hasharon was killed on Friday morning when his light plane crashed in the Binyamina area, in central Israel.

Degani, married and the father of three, was a lieutenant colonel in the IDF reserves, a helicopter pilot and a senior flight instructor at a flight school.

Degani's family members said: "He was a beloved husband and father who will be greatly missed. He was cynical, but he loved his land and people. He was involved in aviation all his life, from age 15. He was a flight instructor in the Air Force Reserves, a very experienced, and very thoughtful and careful pilot."

His brother, Yaron Degani, who lived in El Salvador, was also killed in a plane crash, in 2011, while flying a light plane. Another person, a 50-year-old man, was moderately injured.

MDA medics reported, said: "We arrived at the scene with ambulances, intensive care vehicles, and an MDA helicopter. One of the wounded had bailed himself out of the plane and the other was trapped inside. We gave the wounded man medical treatment and evacuated him to the hospital. We confirmed the death of the second person who was on the plane."