The Israel Protection Forces on Friday stated it was unable to find out what brought about a soldier to enter an unsafe space of a tank throughout a army train in August, resulting in his dying, because it wrapped up an investigation into the deadly incident.
On August 30, 19-year-old Sgt. Eitan Fichman, a tank loader from the 82nd Armored Corps Battalion, was killed after sustaining a “extreme head damage” throughout a stay hearth drill within the Golan Heights.
Fichman was discovered along with his head in an unsafe space between the turret and the hull. Troopers on no account might put any physique elements into this hole whereas the turret’s motion system is on, in keeping with IDF protocols.
The ultimate report largely confirmed interim findings printed by the military a day after the incident.
The IDF on Friday stated “the direct reason behind dying” was Fichman getting into the unsafe space. Nonetheless, it added that “it’s not attainable to find out with certainty what brought about this.”
The investigation stated that whereas the tank was driving, the commander seen that the loader was not responding. The crew then stopped and eliminated the soldier from the tank, and the train was halted. Fichman’s dying was declared by medical groups who got here to take him to a close-by base for therapy.
The incident was described by the IDF as “extraordinarily uncommon.” A former tank driver described the world to The Occasions of Israel because the tank’s “triangle of dying.” He stated it’s simply behind the place the loader stands, and they’re educated to not fall in whereas the turret’s digital motion methods are on, particularly when it’s in movement.
This space marked in crimson, reveals an unsafe hole between a tank’s hull and shifting turret. (The Occasions of Israel)
Officers who inspected the scene discovered there had been seemingly no points with the tank itself, the forces working it, or the circumstances during which the drill was held. The soldier’s helmet was taken for examination.
The preliminary probe stated the soldier might have hit his head whereas the tank was driving or collapsed as a consequence of an unspecified medical situation, after which fallen into the unsafe space of the tank.
A crew of consultants headed by Col. Shaul Israeli, the commander of the 205th Brigade, “analyzed the assorted potentialities… and based mostly on every of them formulated conclusions, classes, and proposals to cut back the chance and probability of comparable incidents sooner or later,” the IDF stated Friday.
The consultants additionally examined different “systemic” points in a number of tank items and located “lapses and points which might be required to be corrected, to cut back comparable dangers.”
The chief of the IDF’s Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin expressed sorrow over the incident however lamented flawed “cultural” {and professional} norms throughout the tank unit and “gaps on the systemic stage” that the consultants discovered.
Fichman’s household was up to date on the findings, the army stated.
A Navy Police probe was additionally opened that will submit its findings to the Navy Normal Advocate Corps for analysis.
The IDF stated attainable disciplinary measures could be determined upon following the Navy Police investigation.
The army briefly halted coaching workouts following the lethal incident.
