Here is the list of all heads of state that have so far died in aviation accidents and incidents until this moment. There are more than 20 of them.
So far three heads of state were killed in a series of plane accidents in the course of 2024 alone.
Malawi’s Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima, his wife and nine other people died when the plane they were travelling in crashed in the Chikangawa mountain range.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were killed in a helicopter crash in May 2024.
Six other people, members of the entourage and crew, also died when the helicopter crashed in the north of the country
On the other hand Sebastián Piñera the former President of Chile died in a helicopter crash on Lake Ranco on 6 February 2024 at age 74.
The rest are listed here in the timeline between 1940 and 2024.
Jos̩ F̩lix Estigarribia РPresident of Paraguay (1940)
Ramon Magsaysay – President of the Philippines (1957)
Nereu Ramos – President of Brazil (1958)
Abdul Salam Arif – President of Iraq (1966)
Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco – President of Brazil (1967)
Ren̩ Barrientos РPresident of Bolivia (1969)
Ahmed Ould Bouceif – Leader of the Military Junta of Mauritania (1979)
Jaime Roldós Aguilera – President of Ecuador (1981)
Omar Torrijos – Military Leader of Panama (1981)
Samora Machel – President of Mozambique (1986)
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq – President of Pakistan (1988)
Juv̩nal Habyarimana РPresident of Rwanda (1994). His death reportedly triggered the horrid Genocide which decimated over 1 million Tutsi and moderate Hutus.
Cyprien Ntaryamira – President of Burundi (1994). He died alongside President Habyarimana of Rwanda as they were riding on the same plane from Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania.
Boris Trajkovski – President of North Macedonia (2004)
John Garang – Sudanese rebel leader and vice president, killed in a mysterious helicopter crash (2005)
Muhammadu Maccido – Sultan of Sokoto State (2006)
Lech KaczyÅ„ski – President of Poland (2010)
Ryszard Kaczorowski – Last President of the Polish government-in-exile (2010)
Kenyan Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Francis Ogolla was killed in a helicopter crash on Thursday, 18 April 2024.
Also worth mentioning, is the aviation accident which occurred on 10 June 2012 involving a Kenya Police helicopter.
The chopper crashed on a hill, killing all six people on board including Kenya’s Interior Security Minister George Saitoti and his Assistant Minister Joshua Orwa Ojode.