The Israeli Air Force has revealed a harrowing mishap occurred last week in which an F-15 combat jet's canopy broke off while the plane was flying a training mission at 30,000 feet. Amazingly, the two pilots, who you can hear talking with ground controllers in audio that the Israel Defense Forces released, were able to maintain control of the plane and make an emergency landing. The two pilots involved in the incident, identified for security reasons only as Captain Yod and Lieutenant Resh, the first Hebrew letters of their first names, took off from Tel Nof Air Base in central Israel on Jan. 2, 2019. Sometime after Yod and Resh turned southward to begin their training mission, the canopy separated from the rest of the aircraft. So far, it's unclear what happened and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are conducting an investigation into the accident. IAF commander Amikam Norkin a halt to all F-15 training flights pending the results of that review.

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has not named their unit or the exact type of F-15 Eagle they were flying, but Tel Nof is home to 106 and 133 Squadrons, which fly a mix of Israeli upgraded F-15B/C/D "Baz," or Falcon, aircraft. With two pilots involved, the plane in question would have been a B or D model, both of which are two-seaters. The IDF says that technicians are already investigating whether the mechanism that keeps the canopy closed failed or whether the there was a fault in the plane's emergency ejection system, according to The Times of Israel. In the latter case, when the crew pulls the handle on their ejection seats, small explosives blow off the canopy so that they don't go rocketing through the glass.

USAF An Israeli Air Force F-15D Baz.