By Adesina Soyooye
If the Wigwe family has not sued anybody and/or company for the fatal helicopter crash which took away the lives of Herbert Wigwe, his wife, Chizoba, and son, Chizzy, it now has grounds to do so.
Investigators have blamed the helicopter crash which killed the Wigwes and their friend, Abimbola Ogunbanjo on ‘pilot spatial disorientation and company’s negligence’
Ogunbanjo was a former Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc.
The final report of the investigation into the crash has just been released by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and it’s contents are scary, almost like a suicidal mission.
The fatal crash happened on the 9th of February, 2024, near the California-Nevada border in a helicopter with registration number, N130CZ.
The crash which shook Nigerians and destabilised not a few families, organizations and destroyed relationships was, according to the investigation, primarily caused by pilot error and inadequate company oversight.
The NTSB found out that the crash occurred as a result of the “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 NTSB said that the pilot “likely experienced spatial disorientation while maneuvering the helicopter in IMC, which led to his loss of helicopter control and the resulting collision with terrain.”
The report did not, also, spare the company which operated the helicopter as it noted “the company’s inadequate oversight of its safety management processes” as a contributing factor.
The report said that the helicopter operator “failed to ensure pilots were accurately completing flight risk analyses, logging maintenance discrepancies, and adhering to Part 135 flight regulations.”
The report disclosed that there were critical lapses in maintenance communication prior to the crash.
It noted: “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.”
The conclusion by the NTSB is “that poor judgment in continuing the flight under deteriorating weather conditions, along with the operator’s failure to enforce critical safety protocols, ultimately led to the fatal crash.”
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