The Israeli Air Force returned to Romania earlier this month for training in joint Israel-Romania aviation exercises, for the first time since an Israeli military helicopter crashed in Romania last year, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The training exercises took place across Romania and in the Carpathian Mountains. Throughout the two-week joint aviation exercises, the Israel Air Force’s Hercules squadrons mastered mountain navigation in the face of complex, unfamiliar topography and irregular weather, according to IDF.

In 2010, a Sikorsky helicopter crashed in the Romanian Carpathian Mountains, causing the death of six IDF soldiers and one Romanian soldier. Sikorsky squadrons did not participate in this summer’s joint aviation exercises held in Romania.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Israel Defense Forces)