Emek Medical Center in Afula declared on Sunday the death of the victims of a light aircraft crash in northern Israel.
The crash occured near Moshav Tel Adashim, between Nazareth and Afula.
One of the men was later identified as Israel Air Force Lt.-Col (res.) Yuval Anbar from Hagor. He was 50 years old and left behind a wife and three children. Anbar was a former squadron commander in the IAF, according to Ynet.
The second was later identified as Lt.-Col. (ret.) Itai Talmi from Hasolelim. He was 70 years old and worked as a pilot for El Al after leaving his regular service in the IAF, according to Ynet.
The men had initially been found by Magen David Adom in a field alongside the wrecked plane, unconscious and in critical condition. Both men were evacuated to Emek Medical Center while unconscious and receiving CPR.
Firefighters at the scene worked to contain a fuel leak from the plane in order to prevent a blaze from igniting.
'Very serious incident'
"This is a serious incident," said a MDA paramedic who responded to the crash. "We arrived at the scene with ambulances, intensive care vehicles, and immediate response motorcycles."
The plane had crashed in a field, severely damaging its fuselage, they shared, adding that the two men had been lying nearby with no pulse or breath.
"We immediately began performing advanced CPR and evacuated them in MDA intensive care vehicles to the hospital in critical condition," they said.
Eli Ashkenazi contributed to this report.