Six IAF crew and a Romanian pilot were killed when the helicopter they were traveling crashed on Monday afternoon during a flight exercise. Romanian officials described it as one of the worst aviation accidents in years.

The crew consisted of four Israeli pilots, two Israeli airborne mechanics and a Romanian pilot , according to Romanian media reports.

The IDF released the names of the six Israelis involved in the crash early Tuesday: Lt. Col (Res.) Avner Goldman, 48, from Modi'in; Lt. Col. Daniel Shipenbauer, 43, from Moshav Kidron; Maj. Yahel Keshet, 33, from Hatzerim; Maj. Lior Shai, 28, from Tel-Nof; Lt. Nir Lakrif, 25, from Tel- Nof; and Staff Sergeant Oren Cohen, 24, from Rehovot.

The IDF Spokesman said the families of the four pilots and two airborne mechanics have been notified. Traveling with the Israeli crew was a Romanian Air Force pilot.  
 

Details of the accident Monday were subjected to censorship for several hours until the families were notified and the army permitted details of the crash to be released.
 

Early Tuesday Israel dispatched two Hercules planes containing investigators,air and rescue teams and representatives of the IDF Chief Rabbinate to the site.

Early Tuesday morning the site of the crash was detected in a mountainous area. The Romanian army declared the site a closed military zone in order to prevent people from reaching the area and possibly removing parts of the wreckage.

IAF Brig.-Gen Nimrod Shefer, deputy commander of the air force, told Army Radio on Tuesday that military investigators still could not determine the cause of Monday's helicopter crash.

Shefer said that the IDF had reviewed the radio communications between the helicopter that crashed and another helicopter participating in the training exercise and did not find any indication that the aircraft was experiencing technical difficulties or inclement weather before it crashed
 

Romanian Defense Ministry spokesman Constantin Spanu said the Israeli Sikorsky transport helicopter CH-53 was flying at low altitude when radio contact was lost mid afternoon.

Israeli sources said the aircraft was carrying double its normal crew of three because of the long flying distances involved in the exercise and the need to give training experience to as many crewmen as possible.

The reason for the crash has yet to be determined, however Israeli military officials said they ruled out a technical malfunction as the cause, pointing to possible human error which cause the tragic accident.

IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen Avi Benayahu explained the reason the IAF wasa training in a foreign country. “We are in Romania in order to train our soldiers in areas that are similar and resemble conflict areas.The exercise that the helicopter was participating in was carried out in order to train the IAF in unfamiliar areas such as mountainous regions, in order to prepare them for times of war or special operations.”
 

Romanian officials said that the helicopter which crashed had encountered a mechanical malfunction last week which was repaired, at the time, by IAF technical teams.

A  Romanian news agency quoted a mountain rescue official,  who said early Monday evening four bodies were found at the site where the helicopter crashed. Later all seven bodies were reportedly found.
 

Fanica Boboc, head of mountain rescue in the Bran region of central Romania, told the Mediafax news agency the helicopter caught fire. He said the bodies were found in the area where the helicopter crashed .

(AP contributed to this report)