BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 21. Akinci technical support team in Azerbaijan had been on alert, throughout the mission, for an emergency situation related to the search for a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his accompanying delegation, according to the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of the Turkish Baykar company Selcuk Bayraktar, Trend reports via CNN Turk.
“The Akinci-type unmanned aerial vehicle played an important role in locating the helicopter that crashed in Iran,” Bayraktar said.
To note, the Turkish National Defense Ministry, based on an appeal from the Iranian authorities through the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said that an Akinci-type UAV and a Cougar helicopter equipped with a night vision system were involved in search and rescue operations in connection with the helicopter of the President of Iran and his accompanying delegation.
On May 19, a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Tabriz Province Imam Ayatollah Ali Hashim, and East Azerbaijan Province Governor-General Malek Rahmati crashed while flying from Khudafarin to Tabriz.
Following the crash, communication with the helicopter crew was established twice, but it was subsequently lost.
The Iranian President and the entire accompanying delegation were confirmed dead.
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