Bucharest-SANA
Five Romanian soldiers were killed today when their helicopter crashed near the Black Sea while they were searching for a fighter plane whose pilot is still missing.
The AFP quoted Romanian Defense Ministry spokesman, General Constantin Spano, as saying in a televised statement, "The AAR-33 Puma helicopter crashed in the Gora Dobrugi region, 11 kilometers from the airport, and was on a search mission for the fighter plane shortly after the flight. The latter lost its radio contact with the control tower and disappeared from the radar, which led to the killing of the five crew members, indicating that the operations to find the pilot of the MiG-2 plane are still underway.
Spano explained that the fighter's commander reported bad weather and received orders to return to the base.