(Rescuers carry a body from the fallen helicopter that carried President Ebrahim Raisi in NW Iran.
Photo credit: Azin Haghighi/MOJ News Agency, via Agence France-Presse-Getty Images)

It is a solemn holiday of remembrance today. We remind ourselves each year of the sacrifice given by mostly young people over the years our nation has stood as a beacon of Liberty. We were lucky. We gave something. They gave it all.

In the Socotra House circle of Salts, Mules is our artist and seeker of knowledge. Or one of them, anyway. He actually produces quality stuff adorned with vivid imagery. This thing about Iran and the crash of the VIP helicopter started this post-meeting chat. The Socotra Daily Production Meeting was done and the group was relaxed enough to think about a two-drink lunch. It was a relaxed session. We had a nice tribute to Memorial Day already written and ready to post in the morning, so we were technically off the clock and the afternoon beckoned.

“I saw this one in the New York Times.” He waved a sheet in his right hand. He is the last of us who keeps a subscription to the HP folks who keep ink loaded in his printer. He is a prepared and organized sailor, even if most of our ships have pulled anchor and headed for the horizon.

“I found some insight to the search effort in Iran a week ago. This was in the digital dump this morning. Gives some info on security measures and media controls. And why much didn’t make sense, at the time. What is interesting is what was not mentioned. There was a rare Iranian request to the U.S. for locating help. Which was passed on. The report says we apparently did talk to them and offer assistance as required. SOP, but the messaging gives it a little spin to make it a bigger deal than it is. But maybe it was. Dunno.” He put the paper on the table and slid it counter-clockwise to keep us alert. “Ultimately, we were not able to provide that assistance. What was interesting was that of the nine onboard the helicopter there was a survivor, for a while.”

Rocket picked up the paper and turned to face the circle. The print was in large font m maybe ‘58’ and we could all see the headline:
Calls, Search Parties, Drones: 17 Hours to Find Iran’s President

We couldn’t see anything after that except a blur, so he turned it back around and skimmed it for us. He held the paper out in front of him to look more official. “As a frenzied quest began for the fallen helicopter of President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran moved to control possible threats from abroad and unrest at home.”

Splash gave a harumph. “We said that in a story at Socotra House last week! The Times might have read it on the website.”

Rocket laughed. “If reporter Farnaz Fassihi is curious about that we will give her full credit for her fine original reporting. It is an interesting take on modern messaging and timing.” He looked down to skim the rest of the article and went up a notch in alert status. “Whoa. This is a chill. Farna says that just before getting on the fatal ride, President Raisi and his senior delegation held a communal prayer. Someone then suggested having lunch, but the president begged off, saying he was in a hurry to reach his next destination.”

There was a pause in the circle. We generally assume that he did.

Rocket resumed his briefing pose. “The President got on while the Foreign Minister stopped for a group selfie with a crowd that was swarming around on the tarmac. Early in the afternoon, the President’s chopper was joined by a flight of two and took formation, President’s ride assuming the middle slot. Things were routine but there was bad weather. About 30 minutes after launch, Raisi’s bird vanished.
It was also NORDO- “no radio or communications” with the pilot, who had the radio or any of the eight in the mission with phones. They were likely told to shut those down while in flight. Tension sky rocketed. Iranian communications people continued to ping all the known phones on the mission and one was answered. It was Ayatollah Mohammad-Ali A-Hashem who managed only some disoriented words. In the published transcript he is supposed to have just said “I don’t know what happened,” and was “not feeling well…”

“Turbulence?” asked Splash. “I heard it was crappy weather, deep clouds and wind.” Splash had always enjoyed that because usually was sitting on a Martin-Baker ejection seat. He always enjoyed it.
“Dunno. The reporting is uncertain and maintenance or something else could have contributed. The signal phone that was answered was pinging for about two hours after the conversation, but then it died. It might have been activated after the crash, since the phones were probably turned off in flight. The Imam answered an incoming call, sounding distraught. He may have been thrown out and still conscious for a little while.”

On active duty, DeMille was a Patrol Aviator from the P-3 community. He is the de facto group leader and likes to get issues tidy before moving on to the next thing on the list. “So what does this exactly mean?”
That provoked general laughter. We have been trying to figure these regional policy issues for more than forty years and not been any more accurate than the rest of the government.

Splash hurried to get the first point since he apparently wanted to get to lunch: “The President, Foreign Minister and a senior Jurist/Cleric are just the top three of those who were killed. That is going to put some uncertainty for maximum leader Ali Khamenei.”

Mules smiled and said “The Leader is supposed to be 86 years old now. The vacuum in the circle around him could shake up the system.”

Splash glanced skyward in what could have been an appeal to something. Then he said “Hope their system works better than ours.” That concluded the meeting fairly quickly.

Copyright 2024 Vic Socotra
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