Crashed helicopter flying NNPC officials violated regulations – FG

Barely two months after a Sikorsky SK76 helicopter operated by East Aviation crashed in Port Harcourt, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has disclosed that its handlers violated several of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations directives.

Although the bureau was silent on whether or not the vices led to the unfortunate incident, the act shows gaps in the regulatory duties of the NCAR.

The helicopter, which was contracted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, plunged into the Atlantic Ocean near Bonny Finima, off the coast of Calabar on October 24, with six passengers and two crew members.

Five bodies of the eight victims have been recovered while the remaining three are still yet to be found.

While reeling out the preliminary findings of the bureau on the accident, The Director-General of NSIB, Alex Badeh, on Tuesday told journalists in Abuja that 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 added that the helicopter crew members used non-standard phraseology throughout the flight.

The preliminary findings of the bureau read partly, “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.”

The report further reads; “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.”

 While 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 ditched 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.