page_title: 2010 IAF Sikorsky CH-53 crash
section_title: Search and rescue
hierarchical_section_title: 2010 IAF Sikorsky CH-53 crash / Israeli and Romanian response / Search and rescue
caption_attribution_description: July 28, 2010. The IDF delegation continued today (Wednesday) to search for the bodies of the victims from the helicopter crash in Romania. For more information: dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/07/2806.htm The Israel Defense Forces Facebook &#8226; blog &#8226; Twitter
context_page_description: The 2010 Israeli Air Force Sikorsky CH-53 crash refers to an aviation accident which occurred on 26 July 2010, when an Israeli Air Force Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion Yas'ur helicopter crashed during a training flight in the Carpathian mountains, near the city of Brasov in Romania. The accident took place during a joint Romanian-Israeli aviation military exercise code-named "Blue Sky 2010".
  All on board the aircraft died: four Israeli pilots, two Israeli mechanics, and one Romanian liaison officer. The Romanian authorities sent police and security forces into the mountain the morning after the accident. In addition, Israel sent a large team to assist in the rescue operation. After an extensive search in the crash site, on 27 July 2010, the bodies were eventually found.
  An investigation into the incident concluded that the crash was most likely due to human error.
context_section_description: A search-and-rescue unit was sent by Israel to Romania to assist in the rescue, and included 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.
  Rescuers could not land near the crash site due to the rugged terrain, and had to either walk to the crash site on a difficult path or be lowered to the site by rope.  In addition, the bad weather also made it tougher for search-and-rescue teams to identify and reach the crash site.
  The Romanian authorities declared the area around the crash site a closed military zone and sent police and security forces into the mountain the morning after the accident.
  On 27 July 2010, the Romanian Defense Ministry officially announced that 7 bodies were found, and that there were no survivors in the accident.
  Around midnight on 27 July 2010, the Romanian Army discovered the helicopter's black box. The Romanian troops sent a photo of the black box to the IDF, which confirmed that it was the actual black box of the helicopter. Israeli Air Force officials confirmed that Israel would investigate the black box.
  On 30 July, the IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Raphael Peretz confirmed that all the bodies were identified and that an IAF plane would take off to Israel with the six bodies during the morning hours of July 30.
caption: The IDF delegation search for the casualties from the helicopter crash in the Carpathian Mountains.
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