Mendel
Senior Member.
In the spirit of pre-bunking, because Romania is a NATO member:
The original press releases from the Romanian Ministry of National Defense are available via https://www.mapn.ro/cpresa/index.php . Excerpts, translated via Google:
So far, there is no public mention of evidence that points to enemy action.
Article: A Romanian Air Force MiG-21 LanceR went missing in the evening hours of March 2 near the Romanian Black Sea coast, the country’s defense ministry confirmed.
The fighter from the 86th Air Base in Borcea, Călărași County, was on a regular patrol mission in the Constanta county in the country’s east when it encountered adverse weather conditions and disappeared from radar at 20:03, local time.
A Romanian Air Force IAR 330 Puma was immediately deployed for a search and rescue mission with five crew on board. The helicopter took off at around 20:21 before it too disappeared from radar some 23 minutes later and about 11 kilometers from the airfield.
The country’s air force said the helicopter was believed to have crashed in the area of Gura Dobrogei, north of the port city of Constanta.
A search and rescue operation for the helicopter and its crew has also been launched.
In an update on the two crashes, the Romanian defense ministry said both the pilot of the MiG-21 and the crew of the Puma helicopter had been found dead. While it initially said that five crew were on board the helicopter, there were actually seven, including two Romanian Navy personnel.
Article: “It is premature to discuss possible causes. Certainly, there were unfavourable weather conditions, but we can’t comment now,” spokesman General Constantin Spanu said on local television on Wednesday.
The helicopter pilot had reported adverse weather conditions and had been ordered to return to base, according to the ministry.
The original press releases from the Romanian Ministry of National Defense are available via https://www.mapn.ro/cpresa/index.php . Excerpts, translated via Google:
Article: On Wednesday, March 2, at 8:00 pm, a MiG 21 LanceR aircraft from the 86th Air Base, carrying out an air patrol mission over Dobrogea, lost its radio connection with the control tower, and at 8:03 pm it disappeared from the radar. an area between Cogealac and Gura Dobrogei.
Article: The IAR 330-Puma helicopter, which took off on Wednesday, March 2, around 8:21 p.m., in a search-and-rescue mission of the Mig 21 LanceR aircraft, lost its radio connection with the control tower and disappeared from the radar around 8:44 p.m.
So far, there is no public mention of evidence that points to enemy action.