A helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi has had an accident, state media reports. Here’s what we know.
A helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has had to make what the state media refers to as a “hard landing”. According to the reports President Raisi was en route to Tabriz, in northwestern Iran, after visiting the Iran-Azerbaijan border where he had just inaugurated the Qiz Qalasi and Khodaafarin dams with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
The helicopter was part of a three-helicopter convoy. Despite the reported foggy weather, the other two helicopters landed safely. The status of the third helicopter, the one carrying Raisi, is unclear.
The first photos circulated online showed Raisi disembarking from an Mi-17/171 helicopter.
Since the accident was reported, rescue teams from the Red Crescent, as well as military and law enforcement, have launched an extensive search for the president’s helicopter.
According to local residents, the helicopter’s status remains unknown due to the foggy conditions in… https://t.co/36MnLGiE8y pic.twitter.com/qVkySFT8QS
— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) May 19, 2024
However, those were file photo as it looks like the Iranian President was flying aboard a Bell 212. IRNA news agency shared an image allegedly showing the last take off before the accident.
Last image of the helicopter taking off after the meeting between Raisi and Aliyev at the border pic.twitter.com/J1QjoU40Sz
— Aᴍɪʀ (@AmirIGM) May 19, 2024
The Bell 212, in question is reportedly a former Iranian Air Force helicopter that was converted three years ago to be used by the Iranian government.
#EXCLUSIVE The helicopter that flew President Raisi is a “Bell 412” (6-9221) and not a Russian helicopter. This is an Iranian Air Force helicopter that was converted three years ago to be used by the Iranian government. pic.twitter.com/fOBsxjl4vQ
— אינטלי טיימס – إنتل تايمز – Intelli Times (@IntelliTimes) May 19, 2024
As explained, Iranian state media referred to the incident as a “hard landing,” a term often used by Russian MOD to describe aircraft incidents. This term is used to avoid causing panic. Other examples of this include referring to an explosion as a “bang” and the death of a soldier as “an unidentified absence from a military unit.”
Visibility in the vicinity of the crash/hard landing site mountainous and wooded area, approximately 50 km north of Tabriz, is severely limited, down to about five meters, as reported by a Fars news agency. Heavy rain is also reported in the area. This is causing issues to the rescuers that are operating in poor weather conditions (and in darkness).
The weather in the area of the accident is not helping the rescue operation pic.twitter.com/npyyde4FZX
— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 19, 2024
Speaking on Iranian state television, Interior Ministry Ahmad Vahidi said it will take time to reach the crash site due to adverse weather conditions.
We will update the report as new details emerge.
