The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on the helicopter crash that led to death of Group Chief Executive Officer, Access Holdings PLC Herbert Wigwe along with his wife, Son and three others.
The NTSB report released on Wednesday attributed the helicopter crash to pilot error, caused by spatial disorientation.
The report also indicted the helicopter company, accusing it of “inadequate oversight of its safety management processes,”
including the accurate completion and updating of flight risk assessments and the proper logging of maintenance discrepancies.
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 NTSB findings further revealed that the pilot’s inability to navigate effectively in these conditions was a significant factor in the fatal accident, citing severe deficiencies in the company’s oversight and safety management processes.
The report also gathered that during the flight, the pilot had communicated with the company’s Director of Maintenance, DOM about an issue with the radar altimeter, which remained non-functional despite attempts to fix it.
The NTSB further revealed that after arriving at the airport to pick up the passengers, the pilot and a company flight follower engaged in a phone conversation but failed to discuss the status of the radar altimeter or the current weather conditions, both of which could have impacted the flight’s safety.
The incident, which occurred on February 9, 2024, near the Nevada border in California, resulted in the death of all six passengers aboard the helicopter registered N130CZ including Wigwe, his wife, Doreen, their first son, Chizi; and the former group chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.
