Yevgeny Tishkovets, chief specialist at the Phobos Meteorological Center, said that a “thermal depression” was recorded in the area of the Iranian President’s helicopter crash yesterday.
The expert added in an interview with RIA Novosti: “The weather in the air disaster area in northwestern Iran was difficult - due to the occurrence of a thermal depression. 7-10 points of upper, middle and separate cumulus clouds were observed with a lower edge of 300-600 meters. The upper limits were 9- 10 km. The mountain peaks, hills and passes were covered with clouds, and the clouds descended to the ground. There were rain and thunderstorms in some places, and there was a disturbance in the clouds above 3.5 km - with the appearance of ice.
The expert noted that during rains, visibility deteriorated to 1-3 kilometers, and in clouds - to several hundred and tens of meters. The wind speed reached 10-15 meters per second, and in the mountains in some places it reached 21 meters per second.
Tishkovits continued to say: “In the lower boundary layer from 0 to 3 kilometers, a wind shift was observed - a turn in the direction from 190 to 325 degrees, and the speed of air flow at these altitudes reached 30-50 kilometers per hour and the temperature during the day was plus 18 - "Plus 23, and in the mountains about plus 10 last night."
A meteorologist explains what happened to the Iranian president's helicopter over the mountains
The meteorologist noted that flying in the mountains in such weather conditions is prohibited.
He said: “In such weather conditions, controlling and flying the helicopter becomes extremely complicated, and it becomes difficult to maintain the flight altitude, causing turbulence to appear, and increasing pressure and tension in the helicopter’s structure, all of which creates the risk of colliding with a mountain in the area of descending air flows. And from all “It can be concluded that difficult weather conditions may have been the direct or indirect cause of the Iranian president’s helicopter crash.”
Earlier today, Monday, the Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the rest of the helicopter passengers were killed in an air accident while performing work duty in East Azerbaijan Province, northwest of the country.