June 12 (SeeNews) - A Romanian MiG-21 jet fighter crashed in a wheat field in eastern Romania on Monday but the pilot successfully ejected to safety, the defence ministry said.
The Russian-made MiG-21 LanceR aircraft of the Romanian Air Force was on a joint training mission with the Bulgarian Air Force near Mihail Kogalniceanu air base when it crashed shortly before landing around 1115 local time (1015 CET) near Nazarcea, in Constanta county, the defence ministry said in a press release.
When returning to the base after completing the mission, the pilot reported a major engine failure. He ejected from the plane which fell outside of inhabited areas. The pilot is in a stable condition, the ministry said.
Romania, a NATO member since 2004, is in the middle of a programme which aims to replace its Air Force's Soviet-era MiGs with combat aircraft that comply with NATO standards.
In 2016, the country received nine F-16 fighter jets from Portugal as part of the programme and will get three more by September 2017, taking to 12 the total number of F-16 bought from Portugal.
US security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin signed a contract with Romanian Air Force last month to deliver a training system for F-16 Falcon Fighters in 2019.