Leadnaija
The United States National Transportation Safety Board has attributed the helicopter crash that killed former Access Holdings CEO, Herbert Wigwe, his wife, son, and three others to pilot error caused by spatial disorientation.
The NTSB report, released on Wednesday, further indicted the helicopter company, accusing it of “inadequate oversight of its safety management processes”.
This was contained in the NTSB final report unravelling the reasons for the helicopter crash in February 2024.
Preliminary report had earlier shown that the helicopter, registered as N130CZ, crashed while operating under visual flight rules in what ultimately became instrument meteorological conditions, requiring different flight protocols and instrumentation.
According to the report, investigators determined 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.”
The crash, which occurred near the California-Nevada border on February 9, 2024, claimed the lives of all six people on board, including Wigwe, his wife Doreen, their son Chizi, and Abimbola Ogunbanjo, former group chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc.
The US accident investigators further revealed that the helicopter company failed to ensure pilots properly completed flight risk analyses, recorded maintenance issues, and followed required regulations before departure.
According to the report, investigators determined 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.”
The crash, which occurred near the California-Nevada border on February 9, 2024, claimed the lives of all six people on board, including Wigwe, his wife Doreen, their son Chizi, and Abimbola Ogunbanjo, former group chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc.
The US accident investigators further revealed that the helicopter company failed to ensure pilots properly completed flight risk analyses, recorded maintenance issues, and followed required regulations before departure...CONTINUE READING
