– Only Five Persons Recovered, Three Still Missing
LAGOS – The crashed Sikorsky S76c+ Helicopter belonging to Eastwind Aviation was not fitted with the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), against the requirement of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) 2023, which stipulated that the equipment must be installed with the facility.
Also, the report stated that helicopter Radio Altimeter (Rad alt) was snagged and deferred on October 18, 2024, six days before the accident.
These were contained in a preliminary report on the accident, released by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
NSIB also released additional six reports of air accidents and incidents, which occurred between November 17 November 2021 to July 10,2023.
The helicopter with the registration number: 5N-BQG, had crashed into the Atlantic Ocean Southeast of Eket, Bight of Bonny on 24 October 2024 with eight souls onboard.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) 2023 Part 7.8.2.2(q), requires that all helicopters with a maximum take-off mass of over 3, 175kg and up to 7,000kg “shall be fitted with an FDR.”
The preliminary report also claimed that only five out of the eight persons onboard at the time of the crash had been recovered, while three others, including one flight crew, were still missing.
The preliminary report added that no dew point data was reported in the weather information passed to the crew by the required agency.
According to the report, the flight crew used “non-standard phraseology” throughout the flight, adding that there were no standard callouts for the various phases of the flight.
NSIB said that it was notified of the occurrence by the operator, Eastwind Aviation Logistics Services Limited on the same day of the crash, while its investigators were dispatched to the site of the crash the next day for post-occurrence assessment.
According to the report, the helicopter was on a drop-off and pick-up operation of oil workers to Nuim Antan, a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility located near the Bight of Bonny in the Atlantic Ocean.
At 10:40hr, the aircraft requested start-up clearance from Port Harcourt Military Ground Control for departure to Nuim Antan to maintain 1,500ft with eight persons, including two flight crew on board, with a fuel endurance of two hours and fifteen minutes, the report said.
The report added: “Start-up clearance was granted, which was acknowledged by the flight crew of 5N-BQG. The Captain was the Pilot Flying (PF), and the First Officer was the Pilot Monitoring (PM). At 10:43hr, 5N-BQG requested runway 22 Arik link from the tower and was instructed to hold short runway 22.
“At 10:45hr, the Duty Air Traffic Control Officer (DATCO) issued take-off clearance to 5NBQG for Visual Flight Rules (VFR) as follows: 5N-BQG in position cleared Port Harcourt Military to Alakri for Nuim Antan 1500ft on QNH 1012. Surface wind reported variable 02 knots, runway 22 clear lift.
“At 10:47hr, 5N-BQG was airborne and gave estimates to Alakri at 10:52hr and Nuim Antan at 11:32hr, which the DATCO acknowledged. At 10:52hr, 5N-BQG reported checking the Alakri control zone boundary out and two-way communication with Airworks, to which the DATCO requested the flight crew report rejoining.
5N-BQG had crashed into the ocean, and all its eight occupants were fatally injured.
The report stated that the accident occurred at 11:25hr in daylight.
The report said that at 11:24:52hr, the Pilot Monitory (PM), remarked that “This thing is not working,” which was followed by an aural warning from the aircraft, “Bank angle, Bank angle.” This was the last recorded data on the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), the report said.
Other report released by NSIB included the final report on the accident involving a Bell 429 Helicopter operated by Nigeria Police Air Wing with the registration number: 5N-MDA, which occurred at Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Airport, Bauchi on 26 January 2022.
The report stated that the crashed helicopter had no load sheet document in the flight dispatch folder, not included in the Nigerian Police Airwing (NPAW) Approved Maintenance Organisation (AMO), lacked approved operations specifications, while some of its equipment were unserviceable on the day of the occurrence.
Also, the final report on the serious incident involving Embraer 145LR aircraft operated by United Nigeria with the registration number: 5N-BWW, which occurred at about 4000ft climbing out of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on November 17, 2021 was also released.
The final report on the ground collision incident involving an EMB-135BJ aircraft operated by Max Air with the registration nuber: 5N-BXK and a parked ATR 42 aircraft operated by Nigerian Air Force registered NAF 930, which occurred on the apron of the General Aviation Terminal of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja; Nigeria on April 26, 2022, was also released to the public.
Other was the final report on the serious incident involving Beech Baron 58 aircraft operated by Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria with the registration number: 5N-CAG, which occurred on runway 05 at General Hassan Usman Katsina international Airport, Kaduna on December 31, 2022.
Also, the final report on ground collision between a conveyor belt TUG660 truck with fleet number 49/9 operated by Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc and a parked Boeing 737-800 aircraft with the registration number: 5N-MJQ owned and operated by Arik Air, which occurred at Abuja airport on February 3, 2022.
There was also that of the final report on the serious incident involving a Hawker 800XP aircraft operated by Aero Tak with the registration number: 5N-JEF, which occurred at the same Abuja airport on July 10, 2023.
The last one was the final report on the serious incident involving Embraer 145LR aircraft operated by United Nigeria Airlines with the registration number: 5N-BWW, which occurred at about 4000ft climbing out of Abuja airport on November 17, 2021.
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