Pre-match: The inevitable war with Iran

First of all, I was agreeing with your statement it was 100% preventable. I don't think it reflects poorly on Iran at all. I think it reflects poorly on the pilot. As I've stated, I was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps. I actually know Ganyard -- though I'm not sure if it was Steve who was quoted or his son. Steve flew fixed wing and his son flew Cobras and was famousty a walk-on kicker at UVA when he was in grad school. I know exactly where that mishap happened because I have flown over that area numerous times.

And regarding GPS, I don't think you know how GPS works. The only thing that transmits is the satellite. I'm also curious how you seem to know so much about the security protocols of the Iranian President's aircraft. Seems like that would be a closely guarded secret. That said, Marine One uses GPS. YMMV.

 

I'm starting to think there might never be a war with Iran.

 

The fact that Iran has not invested to manufacture its own version of Bell 212 choppers to fly around its president is a bit perplexing (and somewhat embarrassing IMO). This particularly true given the fact that Iran has been manufacturing a variety of other Bell-look alike military choppers for a long time now.

In fact, in 2006 law suit brought by Bell against Iran for manufacturing clones of Bell helicopters without license or authorization. Bell initially won a $22.5 million default judgment against Iran as a result of that suit:
https://www.oblon.com/news/bell-helicopter-awarded-large-judgment-against-no-show-defendant
Bell Helicopter Awarded Large Judgment

The judgment was later vacated and the decision to vacate the default judgment was sustained on appeal.

Besides the older Shahed helicopters which were the subject of that suit, Iran manufactures a variety of Bell look-alike choppers. Below are some of them:
IAIO Toufan

Panha 2091

see also
https://theaviationist.com/2013/01/02/toufan-2/
Iran unveils its latest helicopter Toufan 2: an indigenous AH-1 Cobra

 

I would ordinarily defer to your experience on this particular issue but your posting history shows quite a strong bias when it comes to Iran. Still, while I think its best to await the results of the investigation being conducted, let me ask a question that should be right up your alley: would you consider a pilot getting "disoriented" flying into a cloud (as increasingly seems to be what happened here), making him misjudge and mistake climbing down with climbing up his chopper, an accident caused by pilot error or one due to weather? Was the pilot deemed at fault in the Kobe Bryant case for instance?
https://www.npr.org/2024/05/21/1252441894/iran-helicopter-crash-safety-president-raisi

 

First, I have a strong bias against all authoritarian regimes. I do have a specific, personal bias towards Iran since I grew up in California and had many friends who were exiles after the revolution. The history between our countries is nothing to be proud of and I accept the role my country played in that. That said, Iran is a beautiful country full of wonderful people -- who are being suppressed by a murderous regime.
Second, in the case of the mishap, it is squarely the fault of the pilot. Weather doesn't cause anything. It is just there. How the pilot responds to the circumstances is the cause. And yes, the Kobe Bryant crash was pretty much the same situation, caused by pilot error.

 

The Iranian government is full of creepy scumbags, but they're generally rational. Despite the fantasies of their cheerleader on this thread, they know what the US military would do to them if it came to a real conflict.