IRGC general, pilot killed in gyroplane crash during military exercise

A gyroplane operated by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Ground Force crashed during a military exercise in southeastern Iran on November 4, resulting in the deaths of the pilot and a general.

According to a statement released by the IRGC Ground Force, the ultralight aircraft was conducting a combat operation during a military drill when it crashed in Sirkan border area in the southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan on November 4 morning, Caliber.Az reports per Iranian media.

General Hamid Mazandarani, the commander of Naynava Brigade from Iran’s Golestan province, along with the aircraft pilot, Hamed Jandaqi, a member of the IRGC Ground Force, were martyred in the incident.

A gyroplane is a type of light aircraft that uses a free-spinning rotor to generate lift.

The IRGC Ground Force has staged a war game, codenamed “Martyrs of Security”, in Sistan and Balouchestan since November 1.

Notably, President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others tragically lost their lives on May 20 when their helicopter crashed near the Azerbaijan border.

Raisi was in the north-western province of East Azerbaijan to inaugurate the ceremony to commission the "Khudafarin" hydroelectric complex and inaugurate the "Giz Galasi" hydroelectric complex on the Araz River on May 19.

He was joined by Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, who offered a “friendly farewell” before the helicopter departed towards Tabriz, approximately 130 kilometres (80 miles) south.

Among the deceased were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, East Azerbaijan's governor Malek Rahmati, and Tabriz's Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem.

The crash also claimed the lives of IRGC Brigadier General Mohammad Mehdi Mousavi, President Raisi's head of security, along with two pilots and a technician.

By Aghakazim Guliyev