Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash on Monday, becoming the latest significant political leader to be killed in an aviation disaster.
Here are some of the best known among others:
2024: Former Chilean president Sebastian Pinera
Former Chilean President Sebastian Pinera (who served from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022) died in a helicopter crash on February 6, 2024, near Lago Ranco, a vacation destination 920 kilometers (570 miles) south of Santiago.
2010: Poland’s president Lech Kaczynski
On April 10, 2010, a Tupolev 154 carrying 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczynski and key political and military figures, crashed while attempting to land in dense fog at an airstrip near Smolensk in western Russia.
There were no survivors. The incident was blamed on poor weather as well as faults by Polish pilots and Russian air traffic controllers.
2005: Rebel leader turned Sudanese vice-president John Garang
On 30 July 2005, John Garang, the former separatist rebel leader who became vice-president of Sudan, died when his helicopter crashed in Sudan on a flight back from Uganda.
2004: Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski
The 26th of February 2004, Macedonia’s president Boris Trajkovski was killed along with eight others when his plane crashed as it prepared to land in thick fog in the southern Bosnian town of Mostar.
1994: Presidents Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi
On 6 April 1994, a Falcon 50 transporting Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana and his Burundi counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down over Kigali by at least one missile.
The attack is considered the spark that unleashed the genocide of Tutsis that left at least 800,000 dead, according to the United Nations.
1988: Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq
Pakistan’s president Zia ul-Haq was among the victims of a 17 August 1988 plane accident near Bahawalpur, in the country’s east.
1986: Mozambique President Samora Machel
On 19 October 1986, Mozambique’s first president Samora Machel died when his Tupolev 134 crashed in the north-east of South Africa.