Israeli Air Force nearly shoots down Tony Blair's jet

The Times of London is reporting that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was quite close to being blown out of the sky in his private jet yesterday when a couple of Israeli fighters suspected the aircraft of being a terrorist attacker. The fighters (either F-16s or F-15s) were scrambled to intercept Blair's jet when it failed to contact air traffic control. Blair was en route from the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to Bethlehem for an investment conference. Israeli ATC considered the aircraft suspicious after repeated attempts to contact it were unsuccessful. When the IAF fighters intercepted the private jet, they flew close to the cockpit for Blair's pilots to see they were under suspicion. Moments later, the pilots finally made contact and advised they were carrying Blair on board. I don't think those Israeli guys mess around.

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Israeli F-16 pilot's greatest threat not Iranian air defenses, but cancer

The Israeli Air Force has grounded its entire fleet of 62 Lockheed Martin F-16I Sufas after it discovered formaldehyde in the cockpit. Known to cause cancer at certain concentrations, it is unclear as to how the formaldehyde, a by-product of jet exhaust, is entering the cockpit. Lockheed Martin officials are working closely with the IAF and have a suspicion that the chemical may be entering the cockpit through the air conditioning system. The IAF did not ground its fleet of F-16C/Ds and this problem has not been reported by any other operator of the aircraft. It does,however, have many IAF pilots concerned and rightly so.