President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran died on Sunday in a helicopter crash in Varzaqan, East Azerbaijan. This tragic incident adds to a history of presidents who have lost their lives in air accidents. Here are 15 presidents who have died in air incidents since 1940:
José Félix Estigarribia (Paraguay)
José Félix Estigarribia, Paraguay’s 34th president, died in a plane crash on September 7, 1940, at Altos, Paraguay, aboard a Potez 25 aircraft.
Ramon Magsaysay (Philippines)
Ramon Magsaysay, the Philippines’ seventh president, died in an aircraft crash on March 17, 1957, at Mount Balamban, Cebu, in a Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft.
Nereu Ramos (Brazil)
Nereu Ramos, Brazil’s interim president after the suicide of President Getúlio Vargas, died in a plane crash on June 16, 1958, near Curitiba Afonso Pena International Airport in a Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft.
Abdul Salam Arif (Iraq)
Abdul Salam Arif, the second president of Iraq, was killed in an air crash on April 13, 1966, in Baghdad, Iraq, while flying in a Havilland Dove aircraft.
Castelo Branco (Brazil)
Castelo Branco, Brazil’s first military dictator post the 1964 coup, died in an air crash on July 18, 1967, in Fortaleza, Brazil, in a Piper PA-23 aircraft.
René Barrientos (Bolivia)
René Barrientos, Bolivia’s 47th president, died in a helicopter crash on April 27, 1969, at Arque, Bolivia, in a Hughes 369 aircraft.
Jaime Roldós Aguilera (Ecuador)
Jaime Roldós Aguilera, Ecuador’s president from August 10, 1979, until his death in a plane crash on May 24, 1981, at Huairapungo Mountain, Celica Canton of Loja Province, Ecuador, in an Avro 748 aircraft. He died alongside his defense minister, assistants, and their spouses.
Samora Machel (Mozambique)
Samora Machel, Mozambique’s first president post-independence, died in a plane crash on October 19, 1986, at Mbuzini, South Africa, in a Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft.
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s sixth president, died in a plane crash on August 17, 1988, at Bahawalpur, Pakistan, in a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft.
Juvénal Habyarimana (Rwanda)
Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwanda’s second president, was killed when his private Dassault Falcon 50 jet was shot down near Kigali International Airport on April 6, 1994.
Cyprien Ntaryamira (Burundi)
Cyprien Ntaryamira, president of Burundi, died alongside Rwanda’s Habyarimana in the Dassault Falcon 50 jet that was shot down near Kigali International Airport on April 6, 1994.
Boris Trajkovski (North Macedonia)
Boris Trajkovski, North Macedonia’s president from 1999 until his death in a plane crash on February 26, 2004, at Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a Beechcraft Super King Air aircraft.
Lech Kaczyński (Poland)
Lech Kaczyński, Poland’s president from 2005 until his death in a plane crash at Smolensk, Russia, on April 10, 2010. He died along with his wife, Maria Kaczyńska, and other top officials in a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft.
Sebastián Piñera (Chile)
Sebastián Piñera, Chilean president from 2010 to 2022, died in a Robinson R44 helicopter crash a few minutes after take-off at Lake Ranco, Chile, on February 6, 2024.
Ebrahim Raisi (Iran)
Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s eighth sitting president, died in a helicopter crash on May 16, 2024, in Varzaqan, East Azerbaijan, Iran, aboard a Bell 212 aircraft.
