伊朗官媒公布事故原因：“技术故障”

The helicopter crashed due to a “technical failure,” the IRNA state news agency said in an English-language article paying tribute to Raisi. It appeared to be the first time the cause of the crash was indicated, according to New York Times.

Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi was the eighth president of Iran who was elected to run the country in the 13th presidential election in 2021. Seyed Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday (May 19, 2024) was martyred in a plane crash upon return from Khoda'afarin Dam and on their way to Tabriz Oil Refinery in Varzghan District of East Azarbaijan Province.

伊通社是伊朗唯一的官方通讯社，也是该国历史最悠久的通讯社，至今已有90年历史。其前身是1934年建立的波斯通讯社，1979年伊斯兰革命胜利后更名。伊通社现隶属于伊朗文化和伊斯兰指导部，经费由文指部直接化拨，社长由文指部部长直接任命。

据伊朗媒体此前报道，莱希与同行官员当地时间19日前往伊朗阿塞拜疆边境，与阿塞拜疆总统阿利耶夫一同出席一个大坝落成典礼。当地官员称回程时天气恶劣，莱希的直升机“硬着陆”，同行的另外两台直升机则安全回国。

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a “hard landing” on Sunday as it was crossing a mountainous area through a heavy fog. The president and his entourage were flying back from a visit to a border area in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan. Before the crash, Raisi had attended a ceremony to open a joint dam project on Iran’s northwestern border.

据俄罗斯卫星社5月20日报道，伊朗红新月会负责人皮尔侯赛因·科利万德说：“直升机上的乘客在空难发生后几分钟内死亡。”

图源：央视新闻

伊朗红新月会应急管理指挥中心20日发布的公告中提到，在事发地区存在多雾、多雨、能见度较低等天气状况。航空专家、前直升机飞行员保罗·比弗在接受卡塔尔半岛电视台采访时称，他认为云层、大雾以及低温是导致直升机坠机的原因之一。

Pirhossein Kolivand, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, shared details about the search-and-rescue operation in an interview with a state broadcaster. He said the vast search area, heavy fog and darkness slowed the operation. Paul Beaver, an aviation expert and former helicopter pilot, said the cloud cover, fog, mist and low temperature must have contributed to the crash of the Iranian president’s aircraft.

不过，需要指出的是，事故直升机自身的情况也值得关注。美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）军事分析师、美军退役空军上校塞德里克·莱顿（Cedric Leighton）此前分析说，莱希乘坐的直升机，可能是问世于上世纪60年代的贝尔-212直升机。

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was likely traveling on a Bell 212 helicopter that began operating in the late 1960s, according to CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton.

他说，在美国对伊朗实施制裁后，伊朗“难以获得备用零件”，可能无法替换老旧损坏的部分。在莱顿看来，这是除了天气原因外可能导致坠机事件发生的因素之一。

Leighton told CNN's Paula Newton that the difficulty in obtaining spare parts could have played a factor in the crash: “In this particular case, I think this confluence of spare parts, because of the sanctions, plus the weather which was very bad over the last few days in this particular part of northwestern Iran. All of that, I think contributed to a series of incidents and a series of decisions that the pilot and possibly even the president himself made when it came to flying this aircraft… And unfortunately for them, the result is this crash.”

编辑：朱迪齐

实习生：杨青青

来源：观察者网 伊通社 纽约时报 半岛电视台