A US Black Hawk helicopter dropped from the sky and crashed through trees and lamp posts before hitting the ground in Bucharest, Romania. The military chopper experienced ‘technical problems’ during a training exercise that caused it to make the emergency landing.
Video footage captured the moment on Thursday morning that the Black Hawk suddenly lost altitude and hovered low over vehicles on the street. One car passed just under the chopper. The Black Hawk then plummeted through the trees and took down two public street lights which keeled over and damaged two vehicles.
The helicopter made a crash landing near a roundabout on Aviatorilor Boulevard by Charles de Gaulle Square in the downtown, the Daily Mail reported. No one was injured in the course of the landing.
Some pedestrians on the street paused to look as the giant black chopper passed close to them.
The US embassy in a statement said that it was ‘working with our Romanian partners to resolve the situation and we will provide more information as it becomes available’.
Meanwhile, Romania’s ministry of defense stated ‘we regret the incident’.
‘A helicopter of the US Armed Forces that was forced to land in Charles de Gaulle Square in Bucharest,’ Romania’s ministry of defense said in a statement. ‘The pilot managed to control the aircraft so that there are no victims, and the material damage is reduced.’
Military prosecutors investigated the crash at the landing site.
The Black Hawk was relocated temporarily to the side of the roundabout in order to let traffic through, the US embassy stated. It was taking part in a training exercise with a group of six ahead of events around Romanian Air Force day and the end of Romania’s military presence in Afghanistan on July 20.
After the crash, Romania’s ministry of defense canceled the participating of all aircrafts in the ceremonies, according to spokesperson Brigadier General Constatin Spinu.
‘Both ceremonies will be held but without any participation of military aircrafts,’ Spinu said.
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