For 24 years, Nicolae Ceaușescu ruled Romania with an iron fist. The Romanian Revolution Of 1989When Nicolae Ceaușescu returned, he was quick to blame the backlash on foreign influence. Nicolae Ceaușescu believed he could wait out the uprising. It seems that this chaos may have frightened the pilot of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s helicopter, Lieutenant Colonel Vasile Maluțan. They landed upon Nicolae Petrișor, who had reportedly been washing his black Dacia when guards approached him with guns drawn.