Ebrahim Raisi death: Why politicians use helicopters despite history of crashes

Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi is no more. His demise, along with three other officials, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, comes after a helicopter carrying them crashed in a mountainous region of the country last night.

Raisi joins a long list of world leaders and celebrities who have lost their lives in helicopter crashes. This includes famous US basketball player Kobe Bryant, Rashid Karami, the former prime minister of Lebanon, and Sebastian Pinera, the former president of Chile.

Raisi’s death has once again put the spotlight on helicopters and their safety records. It is, in fact, interesting to note that helicopters, despite their poor aviation safety records, is a preferred choice of many world leaders. But why is that so?

Leaders, celebrities dead in helicopter crashes

Raisi was returning from an inauguration of a dam project along with his Azerbaijan counterpart, when the helicopter, a US-manufactured Bell 212 , crashed in the Jolfa region of East Azerbaijan province amid poor weather conditions. Hours after the search operation commenced, the officials found the wreckage of the helicopter and declared that there were ‘no signs of life’ detected.

Before Raisi, Sebastian Pinera, the former president of Chile, died in February 2024 when his helicopter crashed into a lake in southern Chile. He was a significant figure in Chilean politics, having served two non-consecutive terms as president.

And in 2020, the reputed US basketball player Kobe Bryant along with his daughter passed away in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

In 2018, Leicester City football club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha also died when a helicopter carrying him and other crashed.

Similarly, in 2005, Sudanese leader John Garang de Mabior was killed in a helicopter crash. Reports say that he was travelling in Uganda’s presidential Mi-172 helicopter after meeting with President Yoweri Museveni when tragedy struck the copter.

And in June 1987, Rashid Karami, Lebanon’s most frequently elected prime minister, died after a a bomb exploded in his helicopter en route to Beirut, killing Karami and wounding several others on board.

Still, a preferred choice

But despite the many instances of helicopters crashing, helicopters remain a preferred choice of transportation for many leaders. Why is that the case though? Aviation experts are of the opinion that there are four main reasons why helicopters are used by politicians.

First and foremost, helicopters can reach places where cars or airplanes won’t be able to reach. For an aircraft to reach a certain location, that spot would require a runway. However, that’s not the case for helicopters. They can land on any flat surface, making it the most preferred choice of transportation, especially during times of elections and campaigning.

In fact, as India conducts its Lok Sabha elections, reports have shown that there’s been a 15-20 per cent increase in the number of chartered helicopters, compared to six-odd months ago, with most of the requests coming in from politicians, who wish to travel across the country, campaigning for their party.

Secondly, helicopters save time. For a politician or leader who wishes to visit a spot at a distant location, the chances are the helicopter will get you there in the least time possible.

There’s also the added benefit of multiple options at a cheaper rate. For instance, politicians can choose from a twin-engine helicopter, with a passenger capacity of 10-12 people or a single-engine helicopter with a capacity of six-seven people. However, if travelling by plane, the minimum capacity is 20 people. And as the size of the aircraft increases, so does the cost.

In India, the cost of the smallest charter plane would be between Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 5.25 lakh per hour. Compare that to Rs 1.5 lakh per hour for a chartered helicopter.

Last but not the least, companies that own helicopters fall under the non-scheduled operator (NSOP) category. Hence, they do not have to follow a timetable like commercial airlines.

Helicopters’ safety records

While it is still to be confirmed what caused the helicopter to crash — was it the elements or a human error — the tragedy claiming Raisi’s life along with the others will get many to question if these birds are actually safe to use.

In fact, many question the safety of helicopters with the website howstuffworks.com once writing, “One thing that has characterised the helicopter since its invention in the 1930s has been the absurdity of the machine. The contraption simply looks unable to deliver on its promise, which is to fly up and down, backward and forward, right and left.”

But there are many aviation experts who note that helicopters are relatively safe. The fatal accident rate (the number of accidents that resulted in one or more fatalities) for all helicopters in the United States was 0.72 per 100,000 flight hours in 2018, according to the US Helicopter Safety Team. In comparison, the fatal accident rate for general aviation (an industry term for non-commercial or smaller private planes), was 1.029 accidents per 100,000 flight hours in 2018.

Even in Europe, helicopter fatalities are not that high. According to the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), the number of helicopter accidents in Europe dropped from 103 in 2013 to 43 in 2017.

As per a report in The Telegraph, helicopter crashes stand out in our consciousness as they are often in and around popular tourist destinations. Also, helicopters are more often used in risky operations, such as search and rescue missions, in war zones, and sometimes in bad weather. This can skew the figures against the bird.

John Goglia, a former member of the US’ National Transportation Safety Board, told NPR that helicopters are safe on their own. The issue mostly lies with pilots or owing to operational issues. “Most of the time, the craft is pretty reliable. And there’s been a few instances where there was a mechanical problem. But the real issue is the pilots.”

He further explained in the same report, “Helicopters require a lot of concentration. In an airplane, oftentimes, with the automation that’s in there that you don’t have to focus as much helicopters, you have to maintain your focus from beginning to end. And so sometimes people will lose their focus and when the consequences are severe.”

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With inputs from agencies