A helicopter of the Romanian Air Forces was forced to land on Tuesday after a propeller blade broke during the flight. The incident was not made public by the Defence Ministry (MoD) but it was decided to stop on the ground all Puma helicopters.
The helicopter was on a training mission and was returning to Bucharest Otopeni 90th Base, when the incident occurred, ‘Sursa Zilei’ informs.
Aboard the helicopter there was only the crew – three members, the pilots and a flight engineer. When the helicopter began to vibrate strongly, the pilots decided to land as soon as possible. The landing took place on a field near Floresti, Arges County.
The helicopter landed intact. When the crew got out of the helicopter they noticed the broken blade.
A commission of inquiry has arrived on the field. The MoD stopped from flying all PUMA helicopters until the cause of the incident is revealed.
MoD confirmed the incident in a press release sent to Ziare.com. According to the release, during a training flight, the crew of an IAR-330 Puma belonging to the 90th Air Base noticed vibrations above normal and acted according to the procedures.