Hobby Master Archive

On October 11, 1989, Major Adel Bassem was flying a Syrian MiG-23ML as part of a 2 aircraft training flight next to the Israeli held “Golan Heights”. Bassem saw the opportunity he had been waiting for and broke away from the second Syrian aircraft. He turned toward Israel and accelerated as he descended below radar coverage. With afterburners lit he crossed into Israel and landed at the civilian airport of Megiddo. This was a bit of embarrassment for the Israelis because the Syrian fighter was never challenged.