Eight Romanian military personnel die in plane, helicopter crashes

The pilot of a Romanian military MiG 21 LanceR and the seven soldiers sent to find him on a search-and-rescue helicopter mission all died when their aircraft were involved in separate crashes late on Wednesday, the defence ministry said.

>>Reuters
Published : 3 March 2022, 06:53 AM
Updated : 3 March 2022, 06:53 AM

The MiG was on an air patrol when it dropped off the radar in eastern Romania between the villages of Cogealac and Gura Dobrogei.

The pilot of the IAR 330-Puma helicopter sent to find him had reported unfavourable weather and had been called back to base before it too crashed, the ministry said.

Romania, a European Union and NATO member, plans to phase out its MiG planes and is flying F-16s.