Criminal Probe to Start into Wednesday's Aviation Incidents in Dobrogea

Mar. 3—Prosecutors with the Military Prosecutor's Office with the Bucharest Military Tribunal have opened a criminal case in rem in connection with two plane crashes in Dobrogea, the crash of a MiG-21 LanceR and an IAR-330 Puma helicopter, that left eight people dead.

According to Military Prosecutor's Office, the case regards culpable homicide and failure to take legal measures for safety and health at work.

On Wednesday evening, a MiG-21 LanceR aircraft of — Air Base, carrying out a patrol mission over Dobrogea, lost its radio connection with the control tower and at 20:03hrs it fell off the radar in an area between Cogealac and Gura Dobrogei.

Search-and-rescue operations were launched as a matter of urgency, and a Puma IAR-330 helicopter took off to the area of possible impact.

The helicopter lost its radio connection with the base around 20:44hrs and crashed in the area of Gura Dobrogei, Constanta County, nearly 11 km from the airfield.

The eight people on board the aircraft were killed in the crash — the LanceR MiG-21 pilot and seven soldiers aboard the helicopter.

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