The Chief of Staff of the Iranian Presidency has described the details of the helicopter crash of President Ibrahim Raisi and his colleagues in a TV program.
Ghulam Hussain Ismaili, the Chief of Staff of the President’s House, said that we left Tabriz from Tehran on the morning of May 19, reached Tabriz at 7:10 a.m. and left for our destination by helicopter.
He said that we first went to Aq Bandh, inspected the transit road there, then at around 9 am, by helicopter, we arrived at Khuda Afrin and in the lower reaches of Qeez Qala C Dam, the weather was very good. Our helicopters landed there and the joint project of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan was inaugurated.
Ghulam Hussain Ismaili further said that we offered the Zuhr prayer there, after that President Ibrahim Raisi met the people, then an hour after the Zuhr prayer, we left for Tabriz in such a condition that the weather was very good. There were no signs at all.
After traveling for 45 minutes, a piece of cloud appeared in the sky in Songon mine area. There was no fog at all, there was a patch of cloud in a limited area of the pass but the altitude of the flight was such that we encountered the cloud.
At this destination, the pilot of the President’s helicopter, as the commander, announced to the remaining two helicopters to fly above the cloud. After a 30-minute flight above the clouds, we noticed that the President’s helicopter, which was flying in the middle, was not there. We did not see the President’s helicopter after that. Our flight was normal, no shaking of any kind, we continued our flight and then the clouds disappeared.
Ghulam Hussain Ismaili said that when we saw that the president’s helicopter did not come, the pilot of our helicopter took a turn and returned. We asked why they came back. He said that the real helicopter did not come. We asked when was the last radio contact? He said one minute and thirty seconds ago.
We went back to look for the President’s helicopter, the clouds were so deep in this area that we couldn’t see anything below us. Tried hard but could not establish radio contact. A couple of minutes later we descended into the Songon mine area and began exploring.
There was mobile phone signal up there but down in the pass there was no signal. Attempts were made to maintain constant contact with those who flew with the president, Hussain Amir Abdullahiyan and the president’s security chief, but there was no response. Tried a lot but got no response. Then we called Mustafavi, the captain of the President’s helicopter, and Mr. Al Hashim answered and said that my condition is not good, I have fallen in the pass.
I called the same number again and Mr. All Hashim answered. We asked how is your condition? Said my condition is not good. There was pain. He said he did not know what happened. He said that he was in the middle of the trees. When asked about his companions, he said, “I don’t see anyone, there is no one around me.”
Ghulam Hussain Ismaili said that we understand that the helicopter has met with an accident. The mine had ambulance resources. They immediately proceeded to the area that we had guessed.
He said that we spoke to Mr. Al Hashim three or four times. They responded till three hours after the accident, after which they did not respond. Then when we reached the place of the accident, after seeing the funerals of President Ibrahim Raisi and his colleagues, we found that they died as soon as the accident happened, but Al Hashem was alive until a few hours after the accident.
He added that we were controlling from above, there was no sound of explosion, no smoke and no fire was seen. The forest guards and policemen were asked to ask the villagers, but no one had seen anything or heard any sound. Of course, this is a wild area, the rural settlements are limited and often empty of inhabitants.
Ghulam Hussain Ismaili said that when we reached the accident area, the weather was good for about 2 hours after that. It was like if we continued our flight, we would have reached Tabriz. But a couple of hours after landing at the crash site, around two hours later, from around 3 o’clock, the weather completely changed and when the Red Crescent and Armed Forces rescue teams arrived, the fog had cleared.
He said that the haze seen in the footage is the situation two to three hours after the accident.
The Chief of Staff of the President’s House said that what some people say is that why the flight was allowed in such weather conditions? I am not a specialist in weather conditions, but from what I have seen with my own eyes, the conditions for the flight were normal, there was only a small limited area of cloud, but it was not clear whether the flight should have ended or had to be aborted. Specialists can tell about this, I have described what I have seen.
I stayed in the area till I got the helicopter and the funeral of the martyrs. The search operation took time but the circumstances were such that no more effort was possible.