What We Know About the Helicopter Crash Involving Ebrahim Raisi and Its Background

The helicopter that crashed on May 19, killing Ebrahim Raisi, the President, Hossein Amirabdollahian, the Foreign Minister, and their companions, was a "Bell 212" model. This model, a civilian structure of military helicopters commonly used during the Vietnam War, is widely utilized globally by government entities and the private sector. A photo of the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi and his companions has been published by Iranian news agencies as one of the last images of it. What is the history of these helicopters? The Bell helicopter company designed and produced this model in the late 1960s for the Canadian Armed Forces, which is an advanced and improved version of the original "UH-1 Iroquois" helicopters. The new model, equipped with two turboshaft engines (gas turbine engines), has a higher carrying capacity. This model became operational in 1971 and was quickly adopted by the armed forces of the United States and Canada, according to training documents from the U.S. armed forces. Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the thirteenth government, and his entourage were killed in the helicopter crash. What are the uses of Bell helicopters? This efficient helicopter model has multiple uses, with the letters "U" and "H" in its abbreviation referring to the words "Utility" and "Helicopter." This model is designed and built to adapt to various uses and conditions, including personnel transport, deploying air-to-ground weapons, and cargo transport. The helicopter that crashed on Sunday, May 19, 1403 (Iranian calendar), in Iran was modified for transporting government officials. The Bell helicopter company promotes its latest model, the "Subaru Bell-412," for police use, medical and therapeutic transport, military troop transport, energy industry, and firefighting. According to a license issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, this model has a carrying capacity of 15 people, including crew. Civilian entities using the "Bell 212" model helicopters include the Japan Coast Guard, U.S. law enforcement and fire departments, the Royal Thai Police, and many other organizations worldwide. It is unclear how many of these helicopters Iranian government entities possess, but according to a 2024 report by the research institute "FlightGlobal" regarding the capabilities of the air forces of countries worldwide, the Islamic Republic's air and naval forces have a total of 10 of these helicopters. During the Pahlavi regime, Iran was one of the major buyers of "Bell" and "Agusta" helicopters, and according to Western assessments at that time, Iran had the largest fleet of military helicopters in the Middle East. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Iran currently has one Italian Agusta Bell helicopter specifically for the navy from the "AB-212" model. An archival photo of the Agusta Bell 212 helicopter, reported to be stationed on the deck of the Makran naval base, has been released. The exact origin of the helicopter that crashed on May 19 has not yet been announced, but an informed Iranian source has stated that this aircraft was associated with the Iranian Red Crescent. Experts, based on the limited details known about this helicopter's specifications, say its age may be between 40 to 50 years. Have there been other accidents involving "Bell 212" helicopters? Before the crash of this helicopter in Iran, the most recent fatal accident of this model occurred in September 2023. According to the non-profit organization "Flight Safety Foundation," a private helicopter crashed near the shores of the United Arab Emirates. Based on research from the same organization, the previous accident involving "Bell 212" helicopters in Iran occurred in 2018, resulting in four fatalities. The statistical archive of this organization shows that in 2015, three people were killed due to the crash of a helicopter believed to be of the "AB 212" model near the city of Kashan. According to Western experts and individuals who commented on this matter after the JCPOA agreement, Iran has managed to keep its military and civilian air fleet active through the smuggling of spare parts and reverse engineering during over four decades of isolation and sanctions that began after the 1979 revolution. The state-owned Iranian Helicopter Support and Renovation Company (PANHA), which is part of the Iranian Aerospace Industries Organization, has developed new models that, according to Western experts, are designed based on engineering modifications of "Bell" helicopters, but apparently, the "Bell 212" model was not the basis for the design of these products. Paul Hayes, an expert from an aviation consulting firm called "Cirium Ascend," told Reuters that "Iran has significant technical credibility in aviation." Will investigations be conducted? The incident on Sunday, being classified as a domestic aviation accident, is not subject to international regulations governing aviation accident investigations. Experts in the Middle East and aviation safety are highly skeptical that the Iranian government will seek external assistance regarding an incident of this politically significant magnitude occurring within its territory. A few months after the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane over Tehran in 2019 by Revolutionary Guard missiles, responsible authorities in Iran sent the aircraft's black box to France, but the role of the French Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authority was limited to recovering recorded conversations and not conducting investigations and analysis of the data. Paul Hayes noted the political sensitivities surrounding the May 19 incident, stating, "I doubt any investigations will be conducted in this case."