On 6 October 1973, Egypt launched a massive surprise attack on Israel that included over 200 Egyptian aircraft participating in an opening airstrike.

Not realizing the extent of the attack, Israel quickly scrambled two F-4E Phantom II fighter jets.

The Israeli pilots proceeded to jettison their external fuel tanks and engage all 28 MiGs in aerial combat.

[5] Two IAF 107 Squadron F-4E Phantoms were present at Ofira on Yom Kippur, October 6, 1973, when war broke out.

Several approaching low-flying formations were spotted on radar, yet the controller did not scramble the pair, failing to realise the significance of the attack.

Nahumi ordered Shaki to dump the detachable fuel tanks and to take the west end of the base while he would take the east one.

The base's MIM-23 Hawk battery held fire to avoid hitting the Israeli aircraft, and two MiGs dived down to destroy it.

Nahumi started to chase the leading MiG flying as low as possible and fired his M61 Gatling gun but missed.

One of them found itself in an inferior position and descended at a speed of 500 knots (930 km/h) to sea level, hit the water and bounced back up twice, before pulling up and flying away.

[10] Nahumi and Shaki consulted the forward air controller and decided to land on the parallel runway, which was shorter but less damaged.

[14][15] Another Egyptian commander, Abdel Ghani el-Gamasy, reported just five aircraft losses for the entire air strike as well, as do other sources.