The crew of an F-16 squadron at the IAF Ramon base has been grounded for three weeks following two serious incidents of attacking wrong targets in Gaza, Reshet Bet Radio reported Monday morning.
The Air Force defined the malfunction as an “error in waypoints,” which repeated itself twice within two weeks in the same squadron.
The first attack was carried out by entering incorrect waypoints on the ground. Although the procedures were changed after the first malfunction, a few days later, on a night flight to attack five targets in the Gaza Strip, the flight crew again made a mistake in typing one of the digits of one of the targets – and attacked a target, only to discover another mistake.
An investigation conducted by the Air Force stated: “There was lack of compliance with procedures for verifying targets on the ground, negligence in entering the waypoints, failure to comply with procedures in performing additional controls by the crew, and failure to change protocol – even though the procedures were changed after the first mistake.
Nevertheless, the Air Force says no damage was caused and there were no victims on the ground in both incidents.
