By Adesina Soyooye
Nigeria recorded its first fatal air crash on Thursday, October 24, 2024, in Rivers State.
A Helicopter, belonging to the East West Aviation, chattered by the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited, NNPCL, caring eight souls, six passengers and two crew members, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean at about 11.00am. Sadly, all souls on board the Helicopter perished in the crash. Six of the passengers were contract staff of the NNPCL.
The flight with a call sign number 5 N-BQG(S76C+) was headed to Nuim Antan OML123 fields. It departed from the NAF Base, Port Harcourt.
Odutayo Oluseyi, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, confirmed the crash in a statement on Thursday revealing that three bodies have already been recovered from the sea.
The statement stated: “The helicopter,, a Sikorsky SK76 with registration number 5NBQG and operated by East Wind Aviation, was from Port Harcourt Military Base, DNPM, to the Nuimantan Oil Rig.
“The aircraft, with eight persons on board ditched into the waters near Bonny Finima in the Atlantic Ocean.”
It continued:
“While no Emergency Locator Transmitter, ELT, signal was received, manual efforts to plot the location of the accident are underway.”
The Rivers State Police Command said in a statement that the crash occurred at about 11.00am. It said a staff of Antan Producing Limited, Port Harcourt reported the incident to them.
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