Iran Helicopter Crash: Prez Raisi Joins List of State Heads Who Were Killed in Plane Crashes

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have died in plane crash. The death has brought back memories of state heads who were killed in plane crashes.

Hyderabad: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have been declared dead by local media following a helicopter crash on Sunday in mountainous terrain and icy weather.

Here is list of heads of states who died in plane crashes:

1. On December 9, 1936, Swedish Prime Minister Arvid Lindman died when the Douglas DC-2 plane he was in crashed into houses near Croydon Airport in dense fog just after take-off.
2. On September 7, 1940, General Jose Felix Estigarribia, President of Paraguay for little more than a year, and his wife were killed in an airplane crash. The plane was reported to have run into fog near its destination and the piolot apparently was driven off his course. The pilot also was killed.
3. On July 7, 1943 Polish soldier and statesman Wladyslaw Sikorski, who led Poland's government in exile during World War II, died when his plane crashed in Gibraltar.
4. On June 16, 1958, the then Interim President of Brazil, Nereu Ramos, died when a plane belonging to Cruzeiro Airlines crashed.
5. One March 29, 1959, Barthelemy Boganda, president of the Central African Republic and a hero of independence, passed away after his plane crashed.
6. On September 18, 1961, the plane of then-UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, who was on duty to mediate peace in the Congo, crashed in Zambia. Sixteen people, including Hammarskjold, were killed in the accident.
7. On April 13, 1966 Iraqi President Abdul Salam Arif was killed in a helicopter crash. Arif came to power through a coup in February 1963.
8. On April 27, 1969 Bolivian President Rene Barrientos was killed when his helicopter crashed in the city of Cochabamba.
9. On January 18, 1977, Yugoslavian Prime Minister Dzemal Bijedic's Learjet 25 plane crashed into Inac Mountain near the city of Kresevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bijedic, his wife and six others were killed in the accident.
10. On May 27, 1979, a plane carrying Mauritanian Prime Minister Ahmed Ould Bouceif, who was going to attend an African summit, crashed off the coast of Dakar. Bouceif died in the accident.
11. On December 4, 1980, Portuguese Prime Minister Francisco Sa Carneiro and Defense Minister Adelino Amaro da Costa were killed when their plane crashed in the capital Lisbon just after takeoff.
12. On May 24, 1981, Ecuadorian President Jaime Roldos Aguilera and Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Marco Subia Martinez lost their lives when the plane they were on crashed near the Peruvian border.
13. On July 31, 1981, Panamanian President Omar Torrijos died when the small plane he was flying crashed into a forest.
14. On October 10, 1986, a twin-engine plane carrying Mozambican President Samora Machel and several Mozambican ministers crashed near the Mozambique-South African border. 33 people died in the accident including Machel, some ministers and high-ranking officials of the Mozambican government. In the investigations carried out after the accident, the pilot was found guilty.
15. On June 1, 1987, Lebanese Prime Minister Rashid Karami lost his life when a bomb exploded in the helicopter he was on board to go to Beirut. The remote-controlled bomb, weighing approximately 300 grams and placed behind the seat where he would sit, was detonated shortly after it took off.
16. On August 18, 1988, a C-130 military aircraft carrying Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq, his five generals and US Ambassador Arnold Lewis Raphel crashed near Bahawalpur, approximately 530 kilometers south of the capital Islamabad. In the accident in which there were no survivors, investigators focused on the possibility of sabotage.
17. On February 26, 2004, a plane carrying Boris Trajkovski, who served as the second president of Macedonia, and his accompanying delegation crashed near the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Eight people, including Trajkovski and his advisors, died in the accident. The plane crash was the result of "pilot error.”
18. On April 6, 1994, the aircraft carrying Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira, both Hutu, was shot down with surface-to-air missiles as it prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda. All 12 people on board were killed.
19. On April 10, 2010, a Tupolev 154 plane carrying 96 people including Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and his wife arrived at Russia's Smolensk Airport, where they were to attend a ceremony. While landing, the plane crashed into a forest area and there were no survivors.
20. On February 5, 2024, a Robinson R-66 helicopter carrying former Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and his entourage crashed into Lake Ranco in the Los Rios region. The helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff due to heavy rain and dense fog. Three people managed to jump into the lake and get to shore but Pinera died because he could not unfasten his seat belt.