Iran President Helicopter Crashes

Update...

www.reuters.com

... A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog, an Iranian official told Reuters, and rescuers were struggling to reach the site of the incident.

The official said the lives of Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were "at risk following the helicopter crash", which happened on the way back from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan in Iran's northwest.
"We are still hopeful but information coming from the crash site is very concerning," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iranian state media said bad weather was the cause of the crash and was complicating rescue efforts. The chief of staff of Iran's army ordered all the resources of the army and the elite Revolutionary Guard to be put to use in search and rescue operations.

"It is dark and it has started raining, but the search continues. Rescue teams have reached the area ... however, the rain has created mud, making the search difficult," a local reporter told state TV.

State TV had earlier stopped all its regular programming to show prayers being held for Raisi across the country and, in a corner of the screen, live coverage of rescue teams deployed on foot in the mountainous area in heavy fog.

The rescue teams were expected to reach the probable site of the crash later on Sunday evening. ...

"Hard landing" sounds similar to describing a plane falling apart in midair as an "unplanned rapid disassembly."

#5 | POSTED BY AMERICANUNITY

If they lose power helicopters can auto rotate down to a hard landing. If the blades are still intact. I think that's what they are hoping for.

Bismilliah!

Better to fear the devil you know than the one you don't.

Iran's president has no real power anyway. The Supreme Leader calls all the shots.

#14 Couldn't that change?

Couldn't that change?

Sure. If the Supreme Leader say so.

"This is obviously Jimmah Carter's Fault(tm)... just like last time.
#11 | POSTED BY CORKY"

LOL ummm yeah

I gree with Gracie and it's not the first time! When she's right; She's right! In the last 30 years the elected Presidents of Iran have been much more reasonable leaders than the evil. lunatic Ayatollah who wields all the real power. If I were to pray for someone to die he gets my vote (prayer).

None of this would matter if we hadn't led a coup in Iran to get their oil.

Too bad the ayatollah and all the mullahs weren't on that helicopter as well.

In the last 30 years the elected Presidents of Iran have been much more reasonable leaders than the evil. lunatic Ayatollah

Not really.

They're all the same.

Especially the current one.

None of this would matter if we hadn't led a coup in Iran to get their oil.

Nice werk, Ike.

AU @ #5

""unplanned rapid disassembly."

Yeah, like colliding with the side of a mountain in heavy fog.

That'll do it every time.

Tough way to go.

Yeah, like colliding with the side of a mountain in heavy fog.

Apparently Allah was not his copilot.

"If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain"

Yeah, like colliding with the side of a mountain in heavy fog.

That'll do it every time.

#23 | Posted by Twinpac

Your comment instantly reminded me of this classic from The Far Side:

images.squarespace-cdn.com

"None of this would matter if we hadn't led a coup in Iran to get their oil."

True but Trump has now sold his soul to Big Oil so if he becomes President where will we invade next? Hmmmm....I never liked them Saudis and they have lots of oil!!!!

Karma can be a tough ol' bitch sometimes.

www.aljazeera.com

Live updates from Iran vis-a-vis Aljazeera

Your comment instantly reminded me of this classic from The Far Side:
images.squarespace-cdn.com
#26 | POSTED BY AMERICANUNITY

You win the thread.

I love the far side and that's spot on.

I'm watch Aljazeera.

Searchers say they have been in contact with the helicopter several times. No report on survivors. Transmission is very garbled. I hope "by contact' they mean with the helicopter's emergency beacon, if it has one.

I know it's important to keep some information from the public in Iran. They need to maintain the calm.

The virgins are beginning to congregate ... just in case Raisi is making his way to the afterlife:

www.pbs.org

"Live updates from Iran vis-a-vis Aljazeera"

Which is banned in the so-called free democracy in the Middle East! More and more, I question our support for Israel for the first time in my life. Netanyahoo and the CRAZY Zionists are going to cost Israel their best friend in the world and the sane Israelis better start standing up to them!

"Live updates from Iran vis-a-vis Aljazeera"

The European Union says it has activated its rapid response mapping service, known as Copernicus, to help with the search for the crashed helicopter.

The Copernicus system provides mapping products based on satellite imagery.

In a post on X, Janez Lenarcic, European commissioner for crisis management, says the EU is responding to a request for assistance from Iran.

Won't be long before they say Israel shot it down.

Israel should have shot down the Ayatollah.

It's not very likely that Israel would bother to fly 1,000 miles over Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Iran to shoot down a helicopter.

Fun fact, Iranians overwhelmingly vote for the most liberal candidate allowed on the ballot by the Supreme Council.

REDIAL

I was surprised to see the size of that little helicopter President Raisi was using. It's just a little dinky 4 passenger thing. I've seen dozens of them flying back and forth from the airport. Not at all like a military chopper that you'd expect a president of a country to use.

Did you notice that?

Did you notice that?

I read it was a Bell 212... not that small?

@#42 ... I read it was a Bell 212... not that small? ...

www.bbc.com

Scroll down a bit, and there is a picture and a short video...

... Raisi seen near helicopter before crash reports

--- and, from smae BBC article...

... Watch: State TV shows Raisi in helicopter before accident (17 seconds) ...

#19

Absolutely correct. If we hadn't overthrown Mosaddegh, the Middle East would be a much more peaceful place today, and Iran would be an ally, not an enemy.

That was one of the absolute stupidest things the US has ever done. Iran was a secular democracy, we turned it into a dictatorship. And when they overthrew that dictatorship, the revolution was a disaster because they ended up with a theocratic dictatorship, even worse than the previous one.

This guy? Meh. Don't care if he lives or dies. He's just a puppet of the dictator, nothing will change until Iran has another revolution.

On the heels of establishing the Western Colonial Zionist Nation, it's understandable how people in the Middle East saw the installation of the Shah in Iran just five years later as basically serving the same purpose as creating Israel.

Even some people in the West can see it!

Per X/Twitter ... Sure is a lot of celebrating going on in Iran right now. Raisi is none too popular among the more progressive types.

Scroll down a bit, and there is a picture and a short video...

Looks like a 212. Basically a civilian Huey. Common around here for fire fighting.

More from the BBC...

www.bbc.com

... Search area narrowing but helicopter not yet located - state media

World awaits more information from Iranian authorities ...

Sebastian Usher
Middle East analyst

The difficulty with reporting on an incident like this in Iran is that we are reliant on information being released by a number of semi-official news agencies.

Those agencies don't always speak with exactly the same voice. You will see officials quoted, but quite often those officials will be at odds in what they say.

What we haven't had, beyond some general reassurances from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, is a clear statement from the authorities of what they know in black and white.

I think many regional and world leaders will be watching the same reports that we're watching from those agencies and trying to get some indication of what's happening. ...

#39

I didn't say Israel would shoot it down, I said Israel would be blamed.

Thanks REDIAL I saw that.

I didn't know what it was, but it didn't look military. I can't imagine why the President of Iran would be flying across country in a small civilian helicopter (small compared to Marine One that President Biden has at his disposal.) Especially across mountainous terrain, with up drafts and such, in heavy fog.

Now I'm wondering if that helicopter, or any helicopter, can even be equipped to fly by instruments.

I'm wondering because I think that pilot should have turn around and headed back.

Now I'm wondering if that helicopter, or any helicopter, can even be equipped to fly by instruments.

They can, but bad mountain weather is not a good place for a helicopter anyway. We have medevacs that fly in at night but they usually go around storm cells.

So, if this guy is dead, does anything change?

Seems to me, nothing.

does anything change?

Not likely. Would need to shop for a new Supreme Leader apprentice.

so....anyone heard from any of the 72 virgins ?

Unfortunately for him the virgins are all male incels

Mohammed apparently never specified women virgins

For what it's worth, Iran is saying the have made sporadic contact with 2 people on the flight and the incident was not severe.

@#56

Iranian official says contact with 2 people aboard president's helicopter indicates crash was "not severe"
edition.cnn.com

... Iranian officials have spoken to two people on the same helicopter as President Ebrahim Raisi since it crashed Sunday, Iranian Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri told the country's semi-official FARS news agency.

Because officials made contact "several times" with a passenger and member of the flight crew shortly after the crash, "It appears that the incident was not severe," Mansouri said.

...

Still can't find them. Something is up.

www.bbc.com

... Earlier we reported that a Turkish drone that joined the search for Raisi's helicopter had identified a heat source. ...

@#60

From that BBC article...

... A drone sent by Turkey to help in the search for President Raisi's helicopter has identified a source of heat, according to news agency Anadolu.

Footage from the Bayraktar Akinci high-altitude long-range drone released by the agency shows an aerial view of a landscape at night and a dark ------ on what appears to be a hillside.

The agency said the coordinates of the site had been shared with the Iranian authorities. ...

Still can't find them. Something is up.

That is a bit suspect. Bad weather and nasty terrain make for a difficult search. Contact with the aircraft should make that much simpler.

www.bbc.com

... Search teams have found the crash site of the helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, state TV says.

The head of Iran's Red Crescent society has told state TV that the situation is not "good". ...

"Iranian officials have spoken to two people on the same helicopter as President Ebrahim Raisi since it crashed Sunday." And that the crash isn't severe.

Until proven otherwise I'm going to remain skeptical about any reports coming from Iranian State TV. I'm going to assume that they have their reasons to be less than truthful, knowing that potential enemies of President Raisi would see this as an opportunity to take advantage of a perceived weakness within Iran's hierarchy.

Everybody who is following the search results of this tragedy isn't necessarily a friend.

I'm going to assume that they have their reasons to be less than truthful

Mobilising a lot of riot cops would be my first bet.

He's dead, it's confirmed.

BREAKING

"No sign of life' at Raisi helicopter wreck site - state TV

There is "no sign" of life coming from President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter, state TV says.

Reuters has also reported that the helicopter was "completely burned" in the crash, citing an Iranian official.

He's dead, it's confirmed.
#66 | POSTED BY BLUEWAFFLES

Yikes.

He's dead

So you said 10 hours ago.

Still makes no difference to anything.

Well, sure it does. If it's confirmed, this give Iran the reason to launch an attack against Israel since of course an independent investigation conducted by Putin will determine the helicopter was shot down. Read a ------- Tom Clancy novel.

this give Iran the reason to launch an attack against Israel

Again?

Actually, REDIAL, it could make a big difference.

www.newsweek.com ~ ANALYSTS WARN OF TURMOIL

Excerpt:

"That's because Raisi had been handpicked by the Supreme Leader - the one who's ultimately in charge in Iran - not only as his President but also as his likely heir. The loss of Raisi would throw Iran's leadership into turmoil just as its moves internally and abroad are only growing more aggressive. We need to watch this development closely, and if Raisi is confirmed to have been killed in an accident, the days ahead will be extremely tense and uncertain inside Tehran."

""Secondly is of course, because of the speculation that he was a contender or a leading contender to take over the position of supreme leader, that's going to be quite challenging because even if this was just a completely legitimate accident, the high stakes, the tensions between Iran and Israel, and the mistrust, of course, that the population has at the regime and the media is going to fuel speculation that this was foul play and that it had something to do with the succession of who was going to take over the Supreme leadership position,"