Iranian President Raisi's helicopter suffers 'hard landing', regime on edge

[Kittens Are Jerks]

5 minutes ago, Unusual Tournament said:

It’s like his peers couldn’t care less

Peers vying for his position maybe, but in fairness, the bad weather conditions are what hindered the search and rescue mission.

[Kittens Are Jerks]

Anti-Israel activists blame Israel for Raisi helicopter crash

A Hamas-affiliated Telegram account took seriously an Israeli joke about a Mossad agent named "Eli Copter" being responsible for the crash, repeating the claim before deleting the post.

Anti-Israel activists and commentators took to social media to blame Israel for the helicopter crash that reportedly killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday. Communist political activist Jackson Hinkle posted a poll questioning whether bad weather or Israel caused the crash, with the majority of his followers voting for "Israel." He also posted a graphic of a helicopter with the text "Mossad, it's never an accident." "Only one of the three helicopters in the Iranian President’s Convoy crashed — the helicopter he and the Iranian foreign minister were in," said Hinkle. "Why is it taking hours to locate the crash site and why is Israel claiming they know the Iranian President died before any Iranian confirmation?"

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-801868

[Kittens Are Jerks]

17 minutes ago, itsnotoutthere said:

I guess there will be quite a few of his own countrymen/women celebrating this news.

No surprise given his role in the deaths of thousands of Iranians.

[Unusual Tournament]

3 minutes ago, Kittens Are Jerks said:

Peers vying for his position maybe, but in fairness, the bad weather conditions are what hindered the search and rescue mission.

Possibly, thou I wouldn’t discount Israel as it seems to be the main beneficiary of this ‘accident’.

[Setton]

2 minutes ago, Unusual Tournament said:

Possibly, thou I wouldn’t discount Israel as it seems to be the main beneficiary of this ‘accident’.

How so?

He'll be replaced with another hardline Khamenei supporter. How does Israel benefit?

[Unusual Tournament]

1 minute ago, Setton said:

How so?

He'll be replaced with another hardline Khamenei supporter. How does Israel benefit?

It’s possible he might be replaced with another hard line Islamist. Solumani was also a hardliner and replaced many times and not necessarily by better leadership.

[acidhead]

22 minutes ago, Kittens Are Jerks said:

A Hamas-affiliated Telegram account took seriously an Israeli joke about a Mossad agent named "Eli Copter" being responsible for the crash, repeating the claim before deleting the post.

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-801868

This is some hard hitting journalism. 

[Unusual Tournament]

 

[Unusual Tournament]

If Indian diplomats are implicated then it’s one step closer to Israeli involvement

[Kittens Are Jerks]

‘We won’t shed a tear’: Israeli MKs react coldly to Raisi’s death, as government mum

As news broke of the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Monday, Israeli politicians reacted with indifference, while an unnamed official told the media Jerusalem was not involved in the helicopter crash that killed him. “It wasn’t us,” the Israeli official, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.

There was no immediate official Israeli government reaction to his death.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/we-wont-shed-a-tear-israeli-mks-react-coldly-to-raisis-death-as-government-mum/

[itsnotoutthere]

God moves in mysterious ways. Alula Akbar.

[Kittens Are Jerks]

17 minutes ago, itsnotoutthere said:

God moves in mysterious ways. Alula Akbar.

Some of Israel's rabbis would agree with you.

Divine justice? Rabbis claim helicopter crash is God's punishment for Iran's Raisi

Following the emergency "hard landing" of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter in foggy conditions in northwestern Iran on Sunday, various Israeli rabbis have publicly reacted with remarks that suggest divine intervention, reflecting deep-seated spiritual and confrontational views.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-801767

[+susieice]

Shades of Kobe Bryant. A helicopter took off in weather it should not have. 

[+susieice]

4 hours ago, Unusual Tournament said:

It’s like his peers couldn’t care less

They couldn't get there because of the weather being so bad. 

[Kittens Are Jerks]

9 minutes ago, susieice said:

Shades of Kobe Bryant. A helicopter took off in weather it should not have. 

It's not the first time a political leader has found themselves in such a situation.

Iran’s Raisi joins long list of political leaders involved in mysterious crashes

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crash in foggy weather over mountainous terrain was a shock for the region, as presidents are supposed to have access to the very best helicopters in their country’s fleet, as well as the best pilots and maintenance crew.

It isn't expected that presidents should go missing or be involved in crashes. However, historically, a number of important political and military leaders have met their end in crashes. Some of these crashes have led to conspiracy theories about why the crashes occurred.

In most cases, helicopter and plane crashes were due to malfunctions, pilot error, or bad weather.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-801799

[Tatetopa]

10 hours ago, and-then said:

I'm thinking he does his traveling from now on with ground transportation.  Iran's trains may be his best bet,  

Kim Jung Un style?  Maybe.  Safer from his own people, but not from foreign intelligence services.  Pardon the pun, but presidential trains are easy to track.  If any interested party wanted to bother and take out Kim, he would be gone already.  The Iranian president may be a more important target since Iran's threats are more than talk.

[Unusual Tournament]

1 hour ago, susieice said:

They couldn't get there because of the weather being so bad. 

You could be right about the weather. Thou a nation that can threaten Israel with missiles and drones hasn’t a single night and all weather helicopter that can search and rescue or blackbox beacon onboard the presidential helicopter asks a lot of questions 

[Antigonos]

He must have known something about Boeing.

[Kittens Are Jerks]

Israeli envoy Erdan lashes out as UN mourns Iran’s Raisi: ‘What’s next? A moment of silence for Hitler?’

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan lashes out at the Security Council for observing a moment’s silence today in memory of Iranian President Ebhraim Raisi, who was confirmed dead this morning.

“You read correctly, the UN Security Council today held a moment’s silence to remember a mass murder, Iranian President Raisi,” Erdan says in a video statement. “This body, which makes no effort to free our hostages, tipped their heads today to a man who was responsible for the deaths of thousands in Iran, in Israel, and around the world. “What’s next? A minute of silence on the anniversary of Hitler’s death?” Erdan asks, charging that the UN Security Council has become “a danger to world peace.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israeli-envoy-erdan-lashes-out-as-un-mourns-irans-raisi-whats-next-a-moment-of-silence-for-hitler/

[Kittens Are Jerks]

 

[Unusual Tournament]

7 hours ago, Kittens Are Jerks said:

Peers vying for his position maybe, but in fairness, the bad weather conditions are what hindered the search and rescue mission.

Statically it’s safer for presidents of developing states to catch the train or bus when travelling. I understand **** happens, but it seems to me it happens more regularly to the bad guys. 
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heads_of_state_and_government_who_died_in_aviation_accidents_and_incidents

[+susieice]

2 hours ago, Unusual Tournament said:

You could be right about the weather. Thou a nation that can threaten Israel with missiles and drones hasn’t a single night and all weather helicopter that can search and rescue or blackbox beacon onboard the presidential helicopter asks a lot of questions 

I wondered about that too. The articles yesterday said they got a signal from the helicopter. It should have a black box but I can't vouch for what kind of maintenance it's had over the last 40 years. The only choppers they have were gotten before the 1980 revolution by the Ayatolla Khomeni. Sanctions made it hard to get parts. You would think they would at least track that chopper on radar. 

[+susieice]

The helicopter probably didn't have radar to assist with flying.

Do helicopters carry radar equipment? Is so, where is it placed and what type is used? - Aviation Stack Exchange

They may have been able to track it with radar but I don't know for sure because of it's age.

Can Helicopters Be Tracked? If So, How? – Pilot Teacher

[+susieice]

Reactions

Death of Iran President Raisi prompts grief and relief for some (nbcnews.com)

The US sent condolences.

US offers condolences over deaths of Iran's president, FM, reaffirms 'support for the Iranian people' | The Times of Israel

“As Iran selects a new president, we reaffirm our support for the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says in a statement.

Edited May 20 by susieice

[DarkHunter]

10 minutes ago, susieice said:

They may have been able to track it with radar but I don't know for sure because of it's age.

It's a bit more complicated then that.

The issue isn't if it had a transponder or not, the transponder essentially just sends out an ID signal to go with a radar hit, the issue is geography, atmospheric conditions, altitude, and location of the radar.

Basically radar under perfect conditions will pick up anything flying that is within line of sight, which is why radar arrays are put on top of large polls or on top of mountains to maximize distance due to the curvature of the earth, but perfect conditions don't really exist.  

For geography the issue is blocking the line of sight of the radar.  The taller the hill or mountain the bigger a blind spot it creates in radar and the higher an object needs to fly at some distance from the radar to be picked up by it.  

For atmospheric conditions one thing that people forget is that fog, especially really thick fog, can create a lot of noise that messes up a radars ability to detect individual objects.  Other things can create noise too like dust, soot, even large bug swarms.

We don't know where all the radar sites are at so that is an unknown but given that it was extremely foggy and the helicopter crashed into a mountain, which does imply some amount of flying low altitude to the ground, from a mix of the mountains radar shadow, the thick fog, and low altitude there is a very high chance any radar lost the ability to track the helicopter significantly long before it actually crashed.