Authorities in Iran have supplied little details about the circumstances of the crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and eight others however have attributed it to a “technical failure.” U.S. Secretary of Protection Lloyd Austin instructed reporters on Monday that “the USA had no half to play” within the crash and that the Pentagon had no perception into the trigger.
Regardless of poor relations between Tehran and Washington, the Iranian air drive maintains 5 of those U.S.-designed plane for its VIP squadron, together with the one concerned within the president’s crash, in response to Scramble, a Dutch aviation web site. Some could also be a long time previous — knowledge from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, reveals that the typical age of the 15 Bell 212 plane registered in Iran was 35 years previous — with their upkeep difficult by worldwide sanctions on Iran.
Bell Helicopter, now Bell Textron, which developed the helicopter within the Sixties, mentioned it had little details about the state of the helicopter. “We will verify that Bell doesn’t conduct any enterprise in Iran or help their helicopter fleet, and we should not have information concerning the energetic state of the helicopter concerned on this accident,” Bell mentioned in an announcement to The Publish on Monday.
U.S. Nationwide Safety Council spokesman John Kirby on Monday denied accusations that U.S. sanctions could have led to the crash, calling any such claims “totally baseless.”
The helicopter crashed Sunday amid dense fog within the mountainous terrain of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. Dozens of search groups labored into the evening, struggling by the rugged panorama to succeed in the scene; phrase that the positioning had been discovered and all 9 folks aboard have been lifeless got here greater than 12 hours after information first emerged of the helicopter’s disappearance. There was no indication of foul play.
John Cox, an American crash professional, mentioned investigators are prone to additionally deal with the unhealthy climate and poor visibility reported on the time of the crash.
Raisi was coming back from an look with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to inaugurate the joint Qiz Qalasi Dam undertaking when the helicopter went down in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.
Raisi was coming back from an look with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to inaugurate the joint Qiz Qalasi Dam undertaking when the helicopter went down in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.
Raisi was coming back from an look with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to inaugurate the joint Qiz Qalasi Dam undertaking when the helicopter went down in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province.
“Mountainous terrain and unhealthy climate isn’t mixture for a helicopter flight,” mentioned Jeff Guzzetti, a former federal crash investigator. He described the Bell 212 as “a stalwart.”
A database maintained by the Flight Security Basis lists about 430 Bell 212 accidents since 1972, together with the Iranian president’s helicopter crash, with 162 of them — just below 40 p.c — involving fatalities.
Globally, there are 443 Bell 212 plane in service by 144 totally different operators, and their common age is 42 years previous, in response to Cirium.
The final fatality involving a Bell 212 occurred in September, when a helicopter on a coaching flight crashed off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, in response to the Flight Security Basis.
Sometimes, abroad crash investigators name within the experience of international plane producers to assist their probes, below a course of overseen by the U.N. aviation company. It’s unclear whether or not Iran will search that help, however Cox mentioned, “It might be higher if Bell plane have been concerned to help the Iranians.”
Iranian authorities have blamed sanctions on American aviation gear for the crash. Cox mentioned it might in all probability be tough to function the Bell helicopter inside Iran and not using a third-party supply for elements or cannibalizing plane for spares.
Iran has confronted U.S. sanctions since 1979. The measures have broadened and deepened through the years and been complemented by European and United Nations sanctions, negatively affecting the Iranian aviation sector and different industries.
There have been instances when Iran was capable of “legally import” complete plane and their elements from Western international locations, mentioned Farzan Sabet, a senior analysis affiliate on the Geneva Graduate Institute.
“Particularly since sanctions and export controls have intensified within the final decade and a half, [Iran] has more and more had far more hassle doing this,” aside from a short interval throughout the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal earlier than the withdrawal of the USA below President Donald Trump.
The US’ sanctions block not solely U.S.-manufactured plane that may be offered to Iran, but additionally “plane that use refined U.S. elements,” Sabet added. Sanctions additionally make worldwide transactions involving Iran’s civil aviation sector and fleet far more tough.
John Hudson contributed to this report.
