"The situation is not good, our helicopter crashed", the words broken by tears. This is what emerges from the audio recorded on board the Bell 212 military helicopter (mark 6-9207) on which was the president of Iran Ebrahim Raisi, who died together with eight other people in the crash of the Islamic Republic aircraft to the ground of Iran Air Force (Iriaf), that is Tehran's air force.

It was revealed by the "Times of India" newspaper. In one of the recordings, the Iranian presidential chief of staff, Gholamhossein Esmaili, who was on board another of the three helicopters that was part of the president's convoy, is heard talking about "perfect" weather conditions when Raisi's helicopter was taken off. However, during the flight, the convoy of three aircraft encountered a cloud bank at low altitude.

Esmaili revealed this to journalists: 45 minutes after takeoff, the pilot of the helicopter Raisi was on tried to gain altitude to avoid a bank of clouds; suddenly the Bell 212 (registration number 6-9207), which was flying in formation between the other two aircraft, disappeared. At that point the staff called Raisi's helicopter aboard. 

"The situation is not good, the helicopter crashed in the valley", Friday prayer leader Tabriz Mohammadali Al-Hashem answers the call. The staff asks him: "How are you?". He replies: "Good, good". In reality Al-Hashem was seriously injured, while all the other eight members on board the helicopter that crashed in the valley died instantly. The staff understands and wishes him eternal rest. Hashem, who died several hours after the crash, concludes: "Continue to govern Iran".  

On the same topic, see also the article published by AVIONEWS.