27.07.2010, 08:44
Zitat:IDF soldiers killed in Romania helicopter crash<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3925489,00.html">http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 89,00.html</a><!-- m -->
A military helicopter carrying six Israeli soldiers and one Romanian crashed Monday in mountainous terrain near Brasov, in central Romania.
According to local sources, seven bodies had been recovered by rescue forces at the crash site by nighttime. The Israelis on board the chopper included four IDF pilots and two airborne mechanics.
The IDF released on Monday night the names of the six Israeli crew members.
[...]
According to Bucharest media reports, the Romanian Defense Ministry said the helicopter, a CH-53 Sikorsky, crashed during Blue Sky 2010 – an 11-day joint Romanian-Israeli aviation exercise. The exercise began on July 18 and is set to conclude on July 29.
[...]
The Israeli and Romanian Air Forces had been training together for the past six years. The agreement on cooperation was signed in September 2003 and the first training session was held in august of 2004.
At the time, several aircraft flew to Romania in order to train at high-altitude terrain while facing different climate conditions than those in Israel.
"When you fly at high altitude, the air is much thinner and the engines are less efficient and weaker," an Israeli officer who took part in the exercise session six years ago said at the time. "There is a special technique for flying a helicopter under those conditions, and this is precisely what we practiced. This exercise was very significant."
"The highest mountain we have in Israel is the Hermon, and we don't train there much," the officer said at the time. "Hence, the training sessions in Romania's tall mountains were so important. After landing at an altitude of up to 5,000 feet, we experienced landing at an altitude of 9,000 feet for the first time."
RIP
Es sollte klar sein warum die IAF den Helikopterflug durch Gebirgsregionen trainiert.