The remains of an Israeli Air Force pilot that has been missing since his plane went down 56 years ago have been located, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said Tuesday.
Lt. Yakir Mordechai Naveh, 23, initially served as an airborne mechanic, eventually becoming a fighter pilot and flight instructor.
According to military records, on May 6, 1962, Naveh and IAF cadet Oded Cotton embarked on a training flight on a single-engine Fouga Magister. While flying over the Sea of Galilee, their plane flew too low over the water and the engine failed, jolting the aircraft and causing its nose to hit the water. This sent the Fouga into a fierce spin from which they could not recover, crashing into the lake.
Cotton's body was found a year later near the wreckage of the plane, but there was no sigh of Naveh and he was declared a fallen soldier whose burial place is unknown.
In 2000, the IDF renewed its search for the pilot using new technology and has continued to conduct periodic scans of the lake.
On Oct. 16, the military began its 12th search round for the pilot's remains, which were eventually discovered on Oct. 25 on the bottom of the Sea of Galilee, 2.5 miles west of Tiberias, along with more pieces of the aircraft.
The remains were then sent to the National Center of Forensic Medicine for identification, the IDF said.
The Sea of Galilee is a relatively small body of water, but IDF divers have often described search efforts there as "hellish," over the lake's soft, silty bottom, which reduces visibility to a minimum.
"On Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018, the remains of Lt. Yakir Mordechai Naveh were located in the Sea of Galilee among the wreckage of the aircraft that crashed there in 1962 and were transferred to the forensics institute," a military statement said.
"On Oct. 16, the 12th search operation for Naveh's remains was launched using new and advanced technology provided by a company that was chosen especially by the Defense Ministry. The IAF spearheaded the operation and was supported by several other units."
The efforts to locate the pilot's remains were "part of the IDF's moral and ethical obligation to locate all its missing and captive personnel, including fallen soldiers whose burial place is unknown," the statement said.
Brig. Gen. Nathan Yisraeli, head of the IAF's Personnel Directorate, said the operation "symbolizes the IAF's determination to ensure our fallen soldiers are found and given a proper burial."
Lt. Yakir Mordechai Naveh will be laid to rest on Nov. 13 at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv.
