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Ebrahim Raisi Latest News:  A Bell 212 helicopter carrying Iran President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday crashed in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border. Iranian officials said all occupants, including President Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were dead in the tragic incident as rescue teams on Monday located the wreckage of the helicopter.

The civilian versions of Bell UH-1N Twin Huey are widely used by both government and private operators globally.

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Origin Of The Helicopter:  

In the late 1960s, Bell Helicopter (now Bell Textron, a division of Textron Inc) developed an aircraft for the Canadian military as an upgraded version of the original UH-1 Iroquois. This new design featured two turboshaft engines instead of one, enhancing its carrying capacity. Introduced in 1971, the helicopter was quickly adopted by both the United States and Canada, as noted in U.S. military training documents.

Uses Of Helicopter:

It is a utility helicopter used for different purposes, including carrying people, ferrying cargo and mounting weapons. The helicopter that crashed on Sunday was meant to carry government officials. Bell Helicopter promotes the Subaru Bell 412, its latest model, for various applications including police operations, medical transport, troop transport, the energy sector, and firefighting. The type certification documents with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency indicate that it has a capacity of 15 people, including the crew.

Bell 212 Operations:

These helicopters are used by several non-military organisations including Japan's Coast Guard, law enforcement agencies and fire departments in the United States, Thailand's national police and many others. As per FlightGlobal's 2024 World Air Forces directory, Iran’s Air Force and Navy have 10 such helicopters.

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BELL 212 Accidents:

According to the Flight Safety Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on aviation safety, the most recent fatal crash of a Bell 212 occurred in September 2023, when a privately operated aircraft went down off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. The organization's database also indicates that the crash of this type in Iran happened in 2018, resulting in the deaths of four people.