FULL LIST: Prominent Global Leaders Who Died in Plane/helicopter Crashes

By Samuel Oamen

Iranian State Media on Monday said President Ebrahim Raisi died after his helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country.

Raisi was travelling with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who also died in the accident.

These are 25 prominent global leaders who died in plane/helicopter crashes since 1940:

1. José Félix Estigarribia (President of Paraguay) Died September 7, 1940 – Airplane accident.

2. Ramon Magsaysay (President of the Philippines) Died March 17, 1957 – Airplane accident.

3. Nereu Ramos (President of Brazil) Died June 16, 1958 – Airplane accident

4. Abdul Salam Arif (President of Iraq) Died April 13, 1966 – Airplane accident

5. Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco (President of Brazil) Died July 18, 1967 – Airplane accident

6. René Barrientos (President of Bolivia) Died April 27, 1969 – Helicopter accident

7. Ahmed Ould Bouceif (Leader of the Military Junta of Mauritania) Died January 27, 1979 – Airplane accident

8. Jaime Roldós Aguilera (President of Ecuador) Died May 24, 1981 – Airplane accident

9. Omar Torrijos (Military Leader of Panama) Died July 31, 1981 – Airplane accident

10. Samora Machel (President of Mozambique) Died October 19, 1986 – Airplane accident (disputed)

10. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (President of Pakistan) Died August 17, 1988 – Airplane accident (disputed)

11. Juvénal Habyarimana (President of Rwanda) Died April 6, 1994 – Airplane shootdown

12. Cyprien Ntaryamira (President of Burundi) April 6, 1994 – Airplane shootdown Dassau)

13. Boris Trajkovski (President of North Macedonia) Died February 26, 2004 – Airplane accident

14. Muhammadu Maccido (Sultan of Sokoto State) Died October 29, 2006 – Airplane accident

15. Ryszard Kaczorowski (Last President of the Polish government-in-exile) Died April 10, 2010 – Airplane accident

16. Sebastián Piñera (former President of Chile) Died February 6, 2024 – Helicopter accident

17. Arvid Lindman (former Prime Minister of Sweden) Died December 9, 1936 – Airplane accident

18. Władysław Sikorski (Prime Minister of Poland (in exile)) Died July 4 , 1943 – Airplane accident (disputed).

19. Barthélemy Boganda (Prime Minister of the Central African Republic) Died March 29, 1959 – Airplane accident (disputed)

20. Joël Rakotomalala (Prime Minister of Madagascar) Died July 30, 1976 – Helicopter accident

21. Džemal Bijedić (Prime Minister of Yugoslavia) Died January 18, 1977 – Airplane accident

22. Francisco de Sá Carneiro (Prime Minister of Portugal) Died December 4, 1980 – Airplane accident (disputed)

23. Rashid Karami (Prime Minister of Lebanon) Died June 1, 1987 – Helicopter bombing

24. Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai (Prime minister of Afghan Northern Alliance) Died August 21, 1997 – Airplane accident

25. Ebrahim Raisi (President of Iran) Died May 19, 2024 – Helicopter accident