Tragic training flight: Lebanon pays tribute to pilots lost in helicopter crash

With the Lebanese flag, the martyr Captain Pilot Joseph Hanna returned to his village of Debel, where its people came out to welcome him with ululations, and the scattering of rose petals.

Amid the sad tunes, the coffin was carried into the church, to be buried on Friday afternoon.

Likewise, Choueifat bid farewell to First Lieutenant Pilot Richard Saab. In the final farewell, his comrades-in-arms carried him on their shoulders.

Both Hanna and Saab lost their lives during a training flight when the military helicopter belonging to the Air Force crashed in the Hammana area, resulting in the deaths of the two service members and injuring another.

It has been learned that the helicopter went down in the nearby Chbaniyeh forest. Preliminary information indicates that the military chopper's crash was due to poor visibility and fog.