Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has explained why a Sikorsky SK76 helicopter operated by East Aviation crashed in Port Harcourt.
NSIB said the operators of the helicopter violated several of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations directives.
Despite the NSIB’s silence on whether or not the vices led to the crash of the helicopter, the act shows gaps in the regulatory duties of the NCAR.
The helicopter, which was contracted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Bonny Finima, off the coast of Calabar on October 24, killing its six passengers and two crew members.
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Five bodies of the eight victims have been recovered, but the remaining three have yet to be found.
NSIB Director-General of NSIB, Alex Badeh, while revealing the bureau’s preliminary findings on the accident at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja, said the crashed helicopter was not fitted with a Flight Data Recorder, a violation of the Part 7.8.2.2(q) of Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) Act 2023
Badeh also accused the helicopter crew members of using non-standard phraseology throughout the flight.
The bureau’s preliminary findings partly read, “The helicopter was fitted with a solid-state cockpit voice recorder; The helicopter was not fitted with a Flight Data Recorder; although Part 7.8.2.2(q) of Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) 2023 requires that FDR shall be fitted on the helicopter; The flight crew used non-standard phraseology throughout the flight.
“There were no standard callouts for the various phases of the flight; The helicopter Radio Altimeter (Rad alt) was snagged and deferred on October 18, 2024, six days before the accident; No dew point data was reported in the weather information passed to 5N-BQG on the day of the occurrence.”
Speaking on the causes of the crash, Badeh explained that the investigators discovered that it appeared to be “Struggling to gain balance right before crashing into the ocean.”
He further noted that the crew’s struggle was followed by an aural warning from the aircraft, “Bank angle, Bank angle,” which was the last recorded data on the Cockpit Voice Recorder with smoke emanating from the engine before it plunged into the water.
Other reports released by the NSIB include a final report on the serious accidents involving Beech Baron 58 aircraft operated by Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria with nationality and registration marks 5N-CAG, which occurred on runway 5 at General Hassan Usman Katsina International Airport, Kaduna on December 31, 2022 and five other incidents.
The NSIB, however, charged the NCAA to ensure strict compliance with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) 2023 part 7.8.2.2(q) which requires that all helicopters with a maximum take-off mass over 3175 kg and up to 7000 kg be fitted with a Flight Data Recorder.
