Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Killed in Helicopter Crash
I doubt anything changes in Iran.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and others died in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
Searchers discovered the crash site after 12 hours after it went down:
The death of Raisi, nicknamed the “Butcher of Tehran” over the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, forced Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to install interim leadership for Iran’s executive branch. An Israeli official denied to Reuters the country had any involvement in the deadly crash. Iran for years has backed the terror group Hamas, currently engaged in its monthslong war with Israel.
Iranian State TV said earlier Monday that there was “no sign of life” at the crash site of the helicopter that was carrying 63-year-old Raisi, 60-year-old Abdollahian and other officials after it made a “hard landing” on Sunday.
The crash site was across a steep valley, according to state media, which gave no immediate cause for the crash.
As the sun rose on Monday, rescuers saw the helicopter from a distance of roughly 1.25 miles, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pir Hossein Kolivand told state media. The officials had been missing for more than 12 hours when the helicopter was observed.
Khamenei ordered five days of mourning.
Iran has to hold a presidential election in 50 days.
In 1988, Khomeini ordered Raisi and others to execute political prisoners across Iran.
Raisi earned his nickname “The Butcher of Tehran” due to his involvement on the death committee.
The killings started in July 1988 and ended in December.
https://twitter.com/AmichaiStein1/status/1792438904227819795?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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Comments
May this sub-human go to the place he so richly deserves.
And there ain’t any women for him, virgin or otherwise.
How sad to find ~far too late~ that the life you’ve lived was not only filled with lies, but truly EVIL and DESTRUCTIVE !
Because Islam is such a curse on the entire world, there’s plenty more where he came from.
Words can’t describe how torn up I am over this
I hope Raisi is slow roasting on spit like the pig he is.
We can be confident that his successor won’t be any better, maybe even worse. The opposition in Iran needs to take advantage of the transition period.
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I think an internal problem was just solved …. the butcher got butchered people have family and friends
revenge is a dish best served cold
😵
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian
😵 😵
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
Long Live Israel 🇮🇱
Got a question for you, Chief:
Do you think this was due to weather that wouldn’t even qualify for IFR, or that Israel was involved? I vote for the former. Israel isn’t stupid enough to fly in such conditions, but some evidently are.
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My guess. Pilot error. Flying in poor visibility conditions.
Iran more than likely spends its money on terrorist activities and not so much on navigation systems.
I blame it on high tech in a low tech mindset.
But I would be pleased to know if any of our friends (those we have left) in the international community used a drone to assist in the rapid descent of this helicopter.
Autorotation doesn’t help if the landing zone is in the trees
My understanding is that the Pretorian guard over there is well trained.
The fuel line had a Bibi in it.
Many helicopters aren’t even equipped for IFR flying. Even for those that are, IFR flying is not recommended. Helicopters, low visibility, and rugged terrain are never a good mix. They’re calling this a “hard landing.” It was more likely a “controlled flight into ground.”
Initially I was all on with the Mossad theory, but only if they tell us the manufacturer was NOT Boeing.
I agree with the Chief. Pilot error is the leading cause of helicopter crashes. You can take your hand off the stick and feet off the pedals and a properly trimmed fixed wing aircraft will keep on flying straight and level.
Rotary wing aircraft are inherently unstable and totally different. You have to have one hand on the stick, one on the collective/throttle, and both feet on the pedals at all times. They’re very labor intensive to fly and require the pilot’s full attention constantly, thus leading to pilot error as the leading cause of helicopter crashes.
I agree that pilot error seems most likely followed by some sort of equipment failure. I absolutely do not believe that Israel deliberately targeted the President. Even in the most savage wars, it is generally considered bad practice to assasinate the heads of government. Generals, sure… but there’s a limit.
One thing I would like to toss in is that it would -appear- that the pilot did not have any night vision equipmemt that might have helped to pierce the fog….
I say this because several sources have mentioned that they had to ask Turkey for assistance in that area.
“Turkey’s Defense Ministry announced late on Sunday that the country would send drones and a helicopter carrying night-vision equipment to Iran to help locate the regime leader,
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-801807
I’m speaking beyond my knowledge on whirly birds, but not on the most savage of wars. This response was the IDEAL move for Israel.
1) Looks like accident- can’t prove it.
2) Highly destabilizing- puts enemy on defensive
3) Will be very disruptive to running those proxy terrorist campaigns
4) In concert with #1 this sends a message that we can get you anytime we want- no amount of Pretorian guard can protect you.
5) Minimal civilian casualties- which is Israel’s signature move.
6) Timing aligns to planning + right window of opportunity since 10/7.
It’s a lot like nuclear scientists going bang with moped bombs.
Unless the helicopter had very advanced technology, one can’t hover in IFR. Thinking of the Kobi Bryant crash. We had a medical chopper crash in low hilly country in IFR conditions. Just can’t pull over by the next cloud and wait it out.
Oh.. and “get home-itis”. Sometimes saying “no” to flying is the best option.
Chief have a question also for you
1. do you think the pilots are instrument trained?
2. the Helo do you think it had working instruments. a bird that old
if it had instruments how good would they be.
It is likely the pilots were instrument trained. The question is “How well?”
It is also very possible their instruments were not sufficient to keep them from having rocks in their clouds.
You combine a mediocre instrument pilot with high altitude (7,000 feet MSL) AND instruments that were a little off, and your possibility of bad things happening goes way up.
HOWEVER, I’m not sure it was an example of “Hey, what’s a goat doing way up here in the clouds?”* I think it might have been an example of trying to set down because they honestly couldn’t fly anymore**, and they failed at the landing (dark, heavy rain and fog). They did radio in about the hard landing, and it seems they might have radioed in that they needed to set down because of the weather.
(* Far Side reference)
(** There are some “instrument” conditions in which you just can’t really fly, especially in helicopters. Trying to read between the lines in other reports, they signaled they had encountered just such an issue.)
An older chopper (esp. a commercial, as opposed to a military helo) is fairly likely to have not been equipped for IFR flight at all, regardless of the pilot’s rating.
I have a lot of respect for pilots. Even our most inexperienced pilots were well trained before they ever have command of an aircraft.
Same about our crew chiefs. Loads of experience and training.
But I find that aviators from foreign countries may not be as capable. There are airlines that I won’t fly because the brother of a politician is the chief of maintenance, even when they don’t know the business and of a wrench.
As others have commented: it’s hard to aviate, navigate, and communicate when they are flying in crap weather. I call pilot error and will leave it to the accident investigation to make a true ruling.
From the blog “Letters From Ripley”
This Iranian President’s Death?
I just look at the scenario….couple of VIP guys getting into a Bell 212 Helicopter…..over 40 years old, and one of those frames affected by zero purchases of legit parts…just doesn’t make any sense.
I would not climb into one…under any circumstances, but this guy did.
Going then into a heavily mountainous area, with reported cloud cover/fog? Again….it makes no sense.
https://ripleyporch.blogspot.com/2024/05/this-iranian-presidents-death.html
And flying through that terrain in that weather, just to attend an opening ceremony for some bridge or dam. Yeah, this story has an aroma to it.
I wonder why they were flying.
I wonder why they were flying.
As alaskabob noted: get-homeitis. Something is sooooo important that you override all the safety protocols and think to yourself, “If I can just outrun…” or “Well, I can skirt it…” or “It’s probably not as bad as the weather-guesser says it is…”.
Ground fog usually only couple hundred feet thick. I’m surprised pilot didn’t stay above it instead of flying in IMC unless they were navigating by pilotage and had to watch the ground.
I really hope the Kews were involved!! 😂😂
Sometimes evil really does get its due
We all get are due. For some it is a lot harder.
He was never actually in charge anyways. But good riddance.
They should make a movie of his life starring Vic Morrow.
Well, bye. Could be a power struggle in Tehran during the ‘mourning period’.
Pilot disorientation due to a VFR pilot in IFR conditions and possibly exascerbated by a failed component. I can only imagine the maintenance performed on middle eastern helicopters after watching Pakistani truck repairs.
Iran can never win a war of attrition and will rely on first-strike and MAD.
Helicopter instruments don’t work well at slow airspeeds because there’s no dynamic coordinate system defined by airflow, even if you’re qualified.
Lets all remember that while we don’t know where people are that includes Hitler.
If Hitler is in Hell where he belongs and I am sure he is so to are these two men and they belong in hell, hope their allies enjoy seeing them again when they get their eternal punishment.
And, no matter what I’ve said about the likely reasons for the flight and the crash…
I sincerely hope the Iranians think it’s someone in the maintenance crew, and they throw them all in prison. Because spreading around the fear and uncertainty is a great way to encourage people to do something.
I am thinking the raving paranoia about Israel will cause a lot of problems for them especially if Israel is not involved.
Just think that if we were like the “Innocent” civilians in Gaza we would be dancing in the street over this death. But wait, the MSM never seems to notice that we are decent people and don’t act like Muslims except at left-wing campuses.
Surprised the White House has not yet called for flags to me at half-mast…
they are seeing what folks in MI and MN think ….
reminds me of the circumstances (inclement weather/visibility) of srv’s demise–for him (and the music world) a tragedy indeed
on the other hand, am wondering if events of the mullah’s demise gave barky of jarrett a moment of pause
” barky OR jarrett “
The Iranians will round up the “usual suspects”.
From experience, I can easily imagine a situation where the VIP(s) demanded that the pilots fly them where they wanted to go, when they wanted to go, no matter how dangerous the pilots tried to explain the conditions to be. VIPs are like progressives, reality is for the little people and they are above such considerations.
Given the nature of the particular VIP involved, the pilot would be faced with a very unpalatable choice. Refuse to fly and face the very wrath of the “Butcher of Tehran” or take the suicidal risk of doing what he ordered.
I’ve no doubt that the aircraft was in good condition and properly equipped for IFR flight and that the pilot was properly trained. The problem is that none of that changes the reality that no usable IFR structure existed in the remote, mountainous terrain in which they were operating. They would have had to climb well above the terrain to even get radar vectoring and the helo was already at the upper end of its altitude envelope,
It appears highly likely that he was scud-running under the clouds, in marginal VFR conditions, ran out of visibility, ran out of options, and ran into the terrain. He isn’t the first and won’t be the last that happens to.