BUCHAREST, July 16 (Xinhua) -- An IAR 99 Hawk aircraft crashed Monday in the eastern county of Bacau, and the two pilots were rescued after ejecting.
The two-man crew flying from the 95th Air Base in Bacau crashed in the Nicolae Balcescu area, some eight kilometers southwest of the air base.
Several intervention, extrication, and first aid crews were sent to the scene.
Defence Minister Mihai Fifor, together with Chief of Staff Nicolae Ciuca, went to the scene.
This is the second crash of the Romanian Air Force in ten days. An MiG-21 LanceR fighter crashed on July 7 in an air show in southeastern Romania, killing the pilot.
The IAR 99 Hawk, the first fully Romanian-made and designed jet, is an advanced trainer and light attack aircraft capable of performing close air support and reconnaissance missions. The design of the aircraft started in 1975 and the serial production began in 1987.
