An El Al captain operating a Boeing 757 flight from Tel Aviv to Moscow on 4 July reported a large flash in the sky, possibly from the explosion of a surface-to-air missile (SAM), around 20-185km (10-100nm) from the aircraft. The incident occurred over the Black Sea near Odessa, Ukraine, in a similar location to the 4 October, 2001, shoot-down of a Sibir Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 by a Grushin S-200 Angara (SA-5 Gammon) SAM. The El Al aircraft pilot, formerly of the Israeli air force, also says he saw the missile trajectory. Ukrainian authorities denied any missile activity near the aircraft's route. The Israelis have also contacted the USA for information from the Defense Support Programme, which monitors missile activity.
Source: Flight International
