The unusual event took place at Konarak Airport in the city of Chabahar, in southern Iran. The German website Bild reported that an aircraft mechanic was sucked into the engine of a Boeing 737-500, resulting in his immediate death.

Amiri Abolfazl, an aircraft mechanic at the airport, began checking the plane's operational readiness after it had arrived earlier with passengers from Tehran. During the check, the right engine of the plane was activated, while a sterile area was opened to prevent injuries.

Suddenly, the mechanic realized he had forgotten one of his tools near the plane, which was in the middle of tests and engine inspections.

At this point, Amiri made a fatal mistake. He went back to retrieve the tool that was near the engine, apparently without noticing that the aircraft, owned by the Iranian Varesh Airlines, had started its tests. The mechanic was sucked into the plane's engine, dying on the spot.

In addition, the plane's engine caught fire, rendering the aircraft inoperable. The German site Bild noted that rescue forces arrived quickly but found that there was no possibility of saving the mechanic.

This latest event is one in a series of similar incidents and tragedies in recent years. Last May, a person was killed after being sucked into the engine of a KLM passenger plane at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. In that incident, passengers on the plane described a "terrible noise coming from the engine."

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As the transportation industry is racing towards an all-electric future, Israeli aerospace manufacturer AIR unveiled on Wednesday a plan for a personal electric flying vehicle for the consumer market.

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The vehicle is designed for private urban air mobility. That type of aircraft uses electric propulsion to take off, hover, and land vertically. It also has minimal impact on the environment.

"Everybody wants to fly, and with AIR, they finally can," AIR CEO and Co-Founder Rani Plaut said. "We are creating fun and functional personal airEVs (air electric vehicles) that blaze the path towards a new era of air mobility accessible to everyone."

According to a statement, the company plans to begin rollout  in 2024, "giving everyone the freedom to fly."

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Israeli Air Force pilot cadet Cpl. Lihu Ben-Bassa, 19, who was killed in a plane crash near Kibbutz Mishmar Hanegev on Tuesday, was laid to rest Wednesday afternoon at the military cemetery in Rishon Lezion.

Ben-Bassa was three months into his pilot's course. He is survived by his parents and his twin brother.

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The fallen cadet's father, Shlomi, eulogized his son: "Forgive me, my son. You're in every one of my tears and you'll continue to live in every cell in my body. I did the best I could as a father. I'm sorry I didn't do more. Now you'll be present every second of my life. You're in my heart forever, and I carry you with me all the time. Rest in peace. You're not alone. You never will be, I promise."

IAF flight school commander Col. Yuval Harel, also spoke at the funeral.

"You went out for your last flight with [Itay] Zaiden, one of our best pilots and instructors, your experienced and skilled squadron leader. Your friends say that before the flight, Zaiden hugged you like a father and you told them how excited you were to be heading in the right direction, and then it happened.

"Since yesterday, we've been trying to understand what happened. There are a lot more question marks than answers. We will probe the incident, we will learn from the mistakes and how not to repeat them," Harel said.

Shibolet Ben-Bassa, the late cadet's mother, said Wednesday: "My Lihu – the wonderfuly boy you are, you went to serve with some much joy and hope. I held myself back from talking to you about my fears, I didn't want to stop your flight and your commitment.

"God, why? Why you? I don't understand. A gentle, quiet boy, but you have so many talents and so much wisdom in every field … What will we do without you?" she lamented.

IAF flight instructor Maj. Itay Zaiden, 42, who was killed the same crash, was laid to rest Wednesday morning. At his family's request, the funeral was private and the media was not invited to cover it.

The residents of Kibbutz Shoval in the northern Negev, where Zaiden lived, were in heavy mourning. Zaiden's widow, Michal, and his four children – asked not to be interviewed.

Family friend Lior Reiser, spoke on their behalf. "Itay was a very close friend, the best of the best, salt of the earth, a family man, everybody's friend, someone who had wonderful charisma and humanity. His death is a disaster for everyone."

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The move underscores the challenges Iran faces in rekindling plans to import planes after the U.S. reimposed sanctions, though Iran Air reiterated on Wednesday it would welcome offers from suppliers not subject to restrictions on the export of U.S. plane parts.

Deals to buy 200 aircraft from aviation giants Airbus, Boeing and European turboprop maker ATR have virtually all stalled after the United States withdrew from a 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers and reimposed sanctions on firms including Iran Air.

Iran's search for other suppliers was a talking point on the sidelines of Airshow China this week, where China promoted its growing aircraft industry as it looks to break into foreign markets for planes such as its long-delayed ARJ21 regional jet.

Asked whether Iran had shown interest in buying Chinese airplanes, Zhao Yuerang, general manager of manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, said, "No, we cannot sell to Iran. Iran is off the table."

Pressed on China's ability to sell the ARJ21 to Iran, he added, "We need to abide by regulations of both countries."

In May, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control revoked licenses to sell passenger jets to Iran that are required for any plane with more than 10% U.S. parts, regardless of where it is made.

Iran Air has said it is looking to buy planes from any company not requiring the U.S. permits and may consider Russia's Sukhoi Superjet 100.

Asked at Airshow China in Zhuhai whether Moscow was in talks to sell the Superjet to Iran Air, a senior official with state holding company Rostec declined to comment in detail.

"This is a sensitive issue," Viktor Kladov, Rostec's director for international cooperation and regional policy, said. "You understand why, because we cannot endanger the whole Superjet program."

Besides controlling exports for aircraft containing over 10% U.S. parts, analysts say the United States sets the tone for global aviation through its benchmark system of safety regulation and the widespread use of the dollar in plane deals.

Kladov said Russia's industry would continue to follow international standards on regulation and aircraft safety but would strive to be independent commercially.

Rostec is already doing some deals in Russian and other currencies, he added.

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Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin arrived in Moscow on Thursday to brief Russian officials on the incident, in which a Russian Ilyushin 20 reconnaissance aircraft was accidentally ‎shot down by Syrian fire some 35 kilometers (22 ‎‎miles) off the coast of ‎Latakia as it was returning to a nearby Russian base, resulting in the ‎deaths of the 15-man crew.

The incident took place on the heels of an Israeli missile strike on Iranian assets in Latakia, with Syrian air defenses mistaking the Russian plane for an Israeli one. This prompted Russia to blame Israel indirectly for the incident, accusing Israel of creating dangerous conditions by failing to give it sufficient advance notice. While Israel has admitted that it bombed the area shortly beforehand to prevent the shipment of sensitive weapon systems to the Hezbollah terrorist group, it has insisted that its jets were nowhere near the area when the Russian aircraft was downed.

During Norkin's one-day visit to Russia, he briefed his Russian counterpart and other top officials on the findings from the Israeli inquiry.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said the meetings were held in a "good atmosphere" and the two sides engaged in "professional and frank dialogue on various matters, emphasizing the interests of both countries and the continued use of the deconfliction mechanism."

But according to Al-Mayadeen,  the visit failed to defuse the crisis and Russia rejected the Israeli conclusion that Syrian forces were to blame for the incident.

The report claimed that the IDF concluded that the Russians did have sufficient advance notice but failed to divert the plane from harm's way after it had completed a surveillance mission on a French naval vessel. The fact that President Vladimir Putin did not meet with Norkin underscored Russia's displeasure with the Israeli inquiry, the Lebanese station said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Thursday elaborating on a telephone conversation he had with Putin on Tuesday.

"I told him that the root of the problem is Iran's attempt to use Syrian territory for attacks against Israel and to arm our enemies, such as Hezbollah. I told him that we have the right of self-defense. There is also very great importance to maintaining the security coordination between Israel and Russia," Netanyahu said.

Speaking with Army Radio Thursday, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman stressed that Israel would not halt its strikes on Iranian assets in Syria.

"We will do whatever is necessary to safeguard the security of Israel's citizens ... and we will not hold these discussions over the airwaves," he said.

But when pressed during the interview, Lieberman avoided asserting Israeli "freedom of action" over Syria, a term he has used in the past.

The Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv issued more criticism of Israel on Thursday.

"Moscow views as irresponsible and unfriendly actions of Israeli Air Force, which exposed Russian Il-20 aircraft to danger and led to the deaths of 15 servicemen," it tweeted, and added that Russia would "take all necessary measures to eliminate the threat to life and security of our military fighting against terrorism."

Israel has struck Syria dozens of times during the seven-year Syrian civil war to prevent the transfer of sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah and other Iranian allies. Russia has largely overlooked the sorties, which the Israelis say pose no direct threat to Moscow's ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Israeli officials told Arabic daily A-Sharq al-Awsat on Thursday that Iran was under the false impression that Israel would not strike its assets near Latakia because of the massive Russian presence nearby.

Meanwhile, according to media reports in Cyprus, Russia has placed restrictions on the airspace and waters around the island. According to those reports, Russia informed the authorities in Cyprus that it would carry out significant military operations in the area in the coming days, presumably in response to the incident.

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"Our aerial defense systems managed to foil an attack by the Zionist enemy," the Syrian media report stated, hours after an anti-aircraft missile shot down the Israeli jet as it was returning from bombing a number of Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria in response to the launch of an Iranian drone into Israeli airspace before dawn.

The incident marked the most intensive confrontation between Israel and Iranian-backed forces in Syria since Iran established a foothold there while fighting in support of Assad in a nearly seven-year-old civil war.

State-run television channels in Syria and Hezbollah's Al-Manar television network in Lebanon aired footage of civilians singing and dancing in the streets.

These media outlets also aired clips of the IAF pilots ejecting from the Israeli jet and the debris from the warplane scattering, set to songs glorifying Assad's Syrian military forces.

On the Lebanese side of the Fatima Gate, near the Lebanese border village of Kfar Kila, Hezbollah operatives were seen waving Hezbollah flags.

Lebanon's Hezbollah declared Saturday that the downing of the Israeli jet marked the "start of a new strategic phase" which would limit Israeli exploitation of Syrian airspace.

"Today's developments mean the old equations have categorically ended," the armed Lebanese faction said in a statement.

A Syrian official was quoted threatening Israel, saying "The Israeli attacks on Syrian land have ended. From now on, the response to every hostile action by Israel will be severe."

"Israel has opened the gates of hell on itself," Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps second-in-command General Hossein Salami concluded. "The claims of infringement of Israeli sovereignty are baseless and are meant to hide the crimes of the Zionist entity."

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that countries are mistaken if they think bombing their neighbors can lead to desirable results.

Speaking at a news conference broadcast on state television, Rouhani said Iran was "prepared for the security of the region" and called on the cooperation of "all other countries."

Additionally, Rouhani said that "military solution, foreign intervention, funneling destructive arms in this region is not the solution to the problems in this region."

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi dismissed Israeli claims that an Iranian drone, launched from Syria, had violated Israeli air space, prompting the clashes. "The reports on the Iranian drone's downing over Israeli skies, as well as its involvement in attacking the Israeli warplane, are ridiculous."

Qassemi insisted that the Islamic Republic's aim in Syria is to "provide military counsel to Syria, as the government requested. It is legitimate for a state to have the right to defend its land and territory from any external aggression."

The Syrian allied war room – shared between Russia, Iran and Hezbollah –issued a statement that said the drone was being used to gather intelligence by terrorist organizations and that the "enemy claims that it penetrated  Israeli airspace is false."

In Arabic media, it was reported that the Iranian drone left from the city of Tadmor, which was under Islamic State control until it was reconquered by Syrian regime forces.

According to the news reports, the Iranian forces that launched the drone were injured in the Israeli strike on the drone control system.

In Jordan and in Lebanon, news reports said that debris from the downed aircraft landed in their territory.

Meanwhile, Hamas also joined in the celebration, and said in a statement that it "supports the right of the Syrian people and its leadership to self-defense."

"This is a natural and legitimate response to the hostilities and crimes of Israel against Syria," Hamas said.

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