Avraham Hakohen

Avraham Hakohen was born in 1924 in Beit Alfa

Avraham Hakohen was born on September 10, 1924, in Kibbutz Beit Alfa. His father, Eliezer Hakohen, was among the leaders of the Kibbutz Artzi movement and the Mapam party. He grew up in the kibbutz's first children's group, studied at Mishmar HaEmek, and in the mid 1940s joined a gliding club.

In the War of Independence he drove trucks in convoys to Jerusalem and later fought in the Harel Brigade. In 1949 he joined the second Air Force flight course, finishing in 1951. He flew fighter planes until 1956 and stayed on as a reserve pilot.

After his discharge he flew for the crop spraying company Chemavir, later becoming its chief pilot, and earned a mechanical engineering degree at the Technion. In 1957 he received the Labor Prize from Histadrut leader Pinhas Lavon.

He joined the test pilot team of Israel Aerospace Industries in 1960 and became chief test pilot in 1968. He flew the first flight of the Arava in 1969 and of the Commodore Jet in 1970. On November 19, 1970, he was killed when an Arava broke apart during a flutter test over Samaria.

He married Meira Kaplan in 1949 and had 4 children. He was buried at Beit Alfa, where a memorial was set up at the kibbutz swimming pool in 1972.