By Blessing Otobong-Gabriel
The Nigerian government has confirmed the recovery of four bodies and the black box from the recent helicopter crash.
The Minister of aviation, Festus Keyamo disclosed this at a press briefing on Wednesday in Abuja that the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, achieved this milestone in collaboration with partners like NNPC, NIMASA, the Nigerian Navy, and HydroDive.
He said, “Initially, the NSIB reported three recovered bodies, but the latest update confirms four fatalities. The helicopter, a Sikorsky SK76 with registration 5N BQG, had eight people on board when it crashed.
Given a short-term report and update on the accident involving a Helicopter, said, a Sikorsky Aircraft, with USA Serial Number: 760486 Year of Manufacture: 1998 Registration Marks: 5N-BQG with eight Persons on Board, Six passengers and two crew members who departed from Port Harcourt Southern Nigeria Military Airport Destination Nium Antan
The Minister noted, “the ill-fated helicopter crashed about 1.4 km from its destination on the NNPC’s Floating Production Storage Offloading vessel, FPSO, (Nuim Antan).
Keyemo hinted that It is imperative to mention that the search and recovery operations continued unabated day and night or twenty-four hours seven days for fourteen days. On day one of the accident, three bodies and some debris suspected to be from the crashed helicopter were spotted floating and were picked up.
According to him,”So far, five bodies identified to be of the deceased passengers were recovered, while one passenger and two crew members are yet to be found.
Keyemo explained that recovery of the Wreckage and Flight Recorder at midnight on 31 October 2024, the wreckage of the helicopter was finally located at a depth of 42m, Latitude 04° 13.634’N and Longitude 008 19.442’E. Although scattered in pieces, major parts and components of the helicopter, except for the flight recorder, Black Box, were recovered, including the fuselage, two engines, main gearbox, landing gears, main and tail rotor, tail rotor shaft”.
“As soon as the area of the crash was identified, the Nigerian Air Force conveyed our Go-Team to Port Harcourt, from where the Go-Team was transported to the Nuim Antan vessel on a Nigerian Navy AgustaWestland, AW109, helicopter on the same day of the accident.
“Search and rescue was activated, and a team comprising teams from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau, Hydro Dive, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA and the ships sailing around the vicinity of the accident site.”
He assured that over sixty personnel mobilised to the site, including professional divers and other technical experts.
“We deployed marine vessels and diver boats equipped with sophisticated state-of-the-art gadgets for scanning the sea bed and tracking. The depth of the sea around the vicinity of the accident site varied from 40 to 100 meters.
The minister pledged commitment to release the long-term report in collaboration with the United States of America, as the State of Design and Manufacture of the helicopter.
“We have appointed an NTSB investigator as the Accredited Representative, assisted by a Technical Adviser nominated by Sikorsky Aircraft”.
He said France as the place of Design and Manufacture of the engines, has been appointed an Accredited Representative, assisted by a Technical Adviser from SAFRAN, the engine manufacturer.
“We will publish the Preliminary Report on the NSIB website within thirty days. Usually, it takes up to a year or more to develop the final report and possible safety recommendations.”
While responding to questions from journalists, the Director General of Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau, Captain. Alex Badeh Jr said the Bureau said the agency has conducted a thorough investigation using available techniques to find a safety issue and recommend a safety change to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.
“We will examine the roles of man, machine, and the environment that might have directly or indirectly contributed to this accident. In the process, we have received full cooperation from the operator, NCAA, NAMA, and NiMet. The helicopter engines and related components will be thoroughly examined at our Wreckage hangar in Abuja after being subjected to a teardown exercise.”
