Seven military rescuers in Romania were killed when the helicopter they were on crashed. They were sent to search for a missing fighter plane from the Romanian Air Force.
The cause of the crash remains unclear. The helicopter had reported bad weather. Therefore, the rescue crew was called to the base. The helicopter, an IAR 330-Puma, crashed near the village of Gora Dobroje in the east of the country, close to the Black Sea.
The missing fighter plane has not been found. It’s the MiG 21 LanceR. The MiG took off at 19:50 local time and lost radio contact with the air base at 20:00. Three minutes later, she disappeared from the radar. At 8:21 p.m., the helicopter took off to search for the plane. At 8:44 p.m. he disappeared from radar.
MiGs are replaced
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis expressed his condolences in a statement: “I express my deepest and deepest condolences for the loss of seven soldiers from Mihail Kogalnicino Air Force Base.”
More accidents have occurred in recent years with the same type of combat aircraft. In 2018, a pilot was killed when his plane crashed during an air show in southern Romania. Romania is in the process of reducing the use of this type of aircraft. In the future, the country only wants to use F-16s.
