Iranian President in Helicopter Crash

[jakee 1,284]

Rescuers apparently struggling to reach the wreckage in bad weather conditions / mountainous terrain.

https://news.sky.com/story/helicopter-carrying-irans-president-involved-in-hard-landing-state-media-13139305

It's nice to see some good news in the world every now and then.

[Phil1111 1,016]

2 hours ago, jakee said:

Rescuers apparently struggling to reach the wreckage in bad weather conditions / mountainous terrain.

https://news.sky.com/story/helicopter-carrying-irans-president-involved-in-hard-landing-state-media-13139305

It's nice to see some good news in the world every now and then.

I'd have thought that the Mossad would be too busy in the West Bank.

[wolfriverjoe 1,400]

2 hours ago, Phil1111 said:

I'd have thought that the Mossad would be too busy in the West Bank.

Bad weather, rough terrain, and the fact that years of sanctions have made maintaining aircraft an iffy proposition.

All of those make the idea that it was 'just a crash' a very real possibility.

I'll guess that Iran will blame Israel (and/or the US), but without an independent investigation (which is likely not going to happen), I probably won't believe what the Iranians say.

[ryoder 1,451]

Did he make any disparaging comments about Putin recently?

[JoeWeber 2,459]

6 hours ago, wolfriverjoe said:

Bad weather, rough terrain, and the fact that years of sanctions have made maintaining aircraft an iffy proposition.

All of those make the idea that it was 'just a crash' a very real possibility.

I'll guess that Iran will blame Israel (and/or the US), but without an independent investigation (which is likely not going to happen), I probably won't believe what the Iranians say.

Whoop de doodle. Glad you got to post something. 

[jakee 1,284]

48 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

Whoop de doodle. Glad you got to post something. 

Thank you for that riveting and important contribution.

 

Sounds like they’ve found the burned out shell (it was a very ‘hard landing’) with all on board killed. After the way they dealt with the hijab protests last year I have a large amount of negative sympathy for the sick bastard and anyone associated with him.

Edited May 20 by jakee

[JoeWeber 2,459]

15 minutes ago, jakee said:

Thank you for that riveting and important contribution.

 

Sounds like they’ve found the burned out shell (it was a very ‘hard landing’) with all on board killed. After the way they dealt with the hijab protests last year I have a large amount of negative sympathy for the sick bastard and anyone associated with him.

Thank you for that riveting and important contribution.

 

[Phil1111 1,016]

24 minutes ago, jakee said:

Thank you for that riveting and important contribution.

 

Sounds like they’ve found the burned out shell (it was a very ‘hard landing’) with all on board killed. After the way they dealt with the hijab protests last year I have a large amount of negative sympathy for the sick bastard and anyone associated with him.

Agree Allahu Akbar. After Putin he would be #2 asshole that deserves a bullet. Unfortunately the way Iran is there are many others just like him.

Edited May 20 by Phil1111

[jakee 1,284]

1 hour ago, JoeWeber said:

Thank you for that riveting and important contribution.

 

Not only do you have nothing to say about the topic, the only reason you’re here is to criticise people for saying something about the topic. Can you not drop your vendettas and behave like a normal person for once?

[wmw999 2,242]

Would it help if I changed the title to “on topic?”

Wendy P. 

[gowlerk 2,013]

7 hours ago, JoeWeber said:

Whoop de doodle. Glad you got to post something. 

Really? How sad.

[wolfriverjoe 1,400]

4 hours ago, wmw999 said:

Would it help if I changed the title to “on topic?”

Wendy P. 

Nah. Let him go on demonstrating his true self.

Back 'on topic', reports are that it was an old Bell 212 (commercial version of the military 'Huey').
The 'hard landing' was a bit more of a 'crash & burn'.
No survivors.

In addition to the President, the Foreign Minister was also killed. Considering the weather (blizzard conditions were reported during the search) and the state of Iranian aviation, it's interesting that both President & Foreign Minister were on the same aircraft.

And, predictably, Iran is blaming the US for imposing sanctions that make it difficult to keep their aircraft flying. 

[jakee 1,284]

31 minutes ago, wolfriverjoe said:

And, predictably, Iran is blaming the US for imposing sanctions that make it difficult to keep their aircraft flying. 

I’m sure the Russians would have been happy to sell and maintain a fleet to them. Oh wait… probably still would have crashed. 

[wolfriverjoe 1,400]

4 hours ago, jakee said:

I’m sure the Russians would have been happy to sell and maintain a fleet to them. Oh wait… probably still would have crashed. 

A quick search suggests Iran has a variety of Russian/Soviet helicopters, including Mi-17 transports.
Some of them fairly new.

Yet the Iranians choose a 'decades old' Bell 212 to transport the President.
Hmmm...

I wonder why they made that choice?

[Phil1111 1,016]

6 hours ago, wolfriverjoe said:

...Yet the Iranians choose a 'decades old' Bell 212 to transport the President.
Hmmm...

I wonder why they made that choice?

When you're paying for a nuclear program sometimes politicians have to make sacrifices by using a 45 year old helicopter.

[olofscience 438]

If I'm remembering correctly, a Bell 212 is pretty dependent on hydraulics for control. Lose the hydraulics, and you don't have any control of the aircraft whatsoever, since the rotor loading is such that it takes more than human strength to move the cyclic and collective controls. Not sure what newer helicopters do now for better redundancy.

[jakee 1,284]

More hydraulics!

Though tbh, bad weather, zero vis, mountain terrain, a very important passenger with somewhere important to be and only one other person in the country who can say no to him… many a perfectly serviceable aircraft has been lost for less.

[kallend 1,726]

Flying the mountains in poor visibility with who-knows-how-old avionics is a recipe for a bad outcome.

 

No conspiracies needed.

[jakee 1,284]

Not so long ago the Polish president was killed in a plane crash where the crew attempted to land in conditions way below minima for the airport equipment instead of diverting and causing the President to miss his appointment. The Captain on that flight had been First Officer on a previous Presidential flight when the old Captain had overruled the wishes of the President for safety reasons. He was officially commended and unofficially removed from duty. The new Captain learned his lesson too well.