The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded its investigation into the helicopter crash that tragically killed former Access Holdings Plc CEO, Herbert Wigwe, and his family last year.
The crash, which occurred on February 9, 2024, in California near the Nevada border, claimed the lives of Wigwe, his wife Doreen, their son Chizi, and the former group chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group), Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
In the final report seen by TheCable, the NTSB stated that the probable cause of the crash was the pilot’s decision to continue the flight under visual flight rules (VFR) into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).
The NTSB explained that the pilot likely experienced spatial disorientation while manoeuvring the helicopter in poor visibility conditions, leading to the loss of control and a fatal collision with terrain.
The investigation further revealed that the helicopter company’s inadequate oversight of its safety management processes contributed to the incident.
The NTSB found that the helicopter company failed to ensure that its pilots accurately completed and updated flight risk analyses, logged maintenance discrepancies, and adhered to Part 135 regulations before departure. These failures were critical in the chain of events that led to the crash.
The report also indicated that during the return flight, the pilot had communicated with the director of maintenance (DOM) via text message about an issue with the radar altimeter, further highlighting lapses in safety protocols.
The report reads, “The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determines the probable cause of this accident to be: The pilot’s decision to continue the visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control.
“Contributing to the accident was the company’s inadequate oversight of its safety management processes, including ensuring the pilots were accurately completing and updating the flight risk analysis, logging maintenance discrepancies, and ensuring the helicopter met Part 135 regulations before departure.
“During the return flight, the pilot texted the director of maintenance (DOM) about the issue. After arriving at the company’s flight operations base, the pilot discussed the issue with the company flight follower (who was also the company’s president).
“A company mechanic performed some troubleshooting on the radar altimeter; however, he was unable to rectify the issue, and the radar altimeter remained non-functional.
“The mechanic reported that the pilot and the DOM were aware that the radar altimeter was not functioning, yet they departed at 1822 on the positioning flight to pick up the passengers.
“About 40 minutes later, the positioning flight landed at the airport to pick up the charter passengers. After arrival, the pilot and flight follower had a phone conversation and exchanged text messages, but they did not discuss the status of the radar altimeter or weather conditions.”
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