IAF officer briefs press about IAF helicopter crash in Romania
The IAF CH-53 helicopter, which was carrying six Israeli crew members and one Romanian officer, crashed at approximately 2:00PM during a routine exercise. Photo Archive: IDF Spokesperson
On Tuesday morning (July 27) Brig. Gen. (Res.) Relik Shafir, a retired IAF pilot and former Tel Nof Air Force Base Commander, gave a briefing about the IAF helicopter crash which occurred the previous day in Romania.
He reported that the IAF CH-53 helicopter, which was carrying six Israeli crew members and one Romanian officer, crashed at approximately 2:00PM during a routine exercise. Since 2004, the IAF has been performing training exercises with many other countries. The exercise is standard practice for any air force and was designed to train the Israeli pilots to fly in unfamiliar terrains under difficult conditions.
According to Brig. Gen. Shafir’s briefing, the crash site is in a mountainous region of Romania. While no bodies have been found, the seven people who were onboard the helicopter at the time of the crash are believed to be dead. The cause of the crash is yet to be determined, but the likelihood of technical failure is low. It is more probable that the difficult flying and weather conditions caused human error and misjudgment. Despite the fact that all of the pilots on board were extremely experienced and had clocked thousands of flight hours, this helicopter had separated from the lead helicopter during the exercise because of heavy fog.
According to usual practice under such conditions, a standard safety reassessment of all CH-53 helicopters is currently underway.
Brig. Gen. Shafir noted that all of the pilots were not only highly experienced, but were also great men. He stated that their probable death would be “not only a great loss to their families but to the Air Force family as well.”
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| 27 July 2010 , 00:11 On Tuesday afternoon (July 27), all seven men who were on board an Israeli Air Force CH-53 series helicopter were confirmed dead. The fatal helicopter crash which took place on the previous day in Romania, has claimed the lives of six Israelis and one Romanian, all of whom were on participating in a joint air force exercise and were initially declared missing. Following the crash, the IDF sent a delegation of approximately 80 personnel from the IDF Medical Corps, the IAF, the Oketz K-9 Unit, the 669 Airborne Rescue and Evacuation Unit, the Chief Military Rabbinate, search and rescue teams, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, and an investigatory team to the crash site. The delegation arrived in Romania on Tuesday morning and immediately began operating in coordination with local Romanian forces. Representatives from the Israeli Chief Military Rabbinate and the Casualty Identification Center, who arrived with the IDF delegation to Romania, are currently preparing to reach to the crash site in order to verify this information. The names of the six Israeli soldiers killed in this fatal helicopter crash are: Lt. Col. (res.) Avner Goldmam (48) from Modiin; Lt. Col. Daniel Shipenbauer (43) from Kidron; Maj. Yahel Keshet (33) from Hatzerim; Maj. Lior Shai (28) from Tel Nof; Lt. Nir Lakrif (25) from Tel Nof; and Sgt. 1st Class Oren Cohen (24) from Rehovot. IDF officials have informed the families of the information received. | ||
