Just two months after a Sikorsky SK76 helicopter, operated by East Aviation, crashed in Port Harcourt, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has revealed that the company responsible for the helicopter did not follow several important regulations set by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCAR).
While the NSIB did not specifically say whether these rule violations contributed to the crash, their findings highlight some significant shortcomings in the oversight of aviation safety in Nigeria.
The helicopter was working for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited when it went down into the Atlantic Ocean near Bonny Finima, close to Calabar, on October 24. There were eight people on board: six passengers and two crew members. So far, five bodies have been recovered, but three individuals are still missing.
During a press conference in Abuja, NSIB Director-General Alex Badeh shared some preliminary findings about the crash. He pointed out that the helicopter was missing a crucial piece of equipment called a Flight Data Recorder (FDR), which is required by Nigerian aviation regulations. This device records important flight data that can help investigators understand what happened during a flight. In this case, the helicopter only had a cockpit voice recorder, which captures sounds and conversations in the cockpit, but not the flight data.
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Badeh also noted that the crew did not use standard communication phrases while flying, which can lead to misunderstandings in critical situations. The NSIB’s preliminary report indicated several other issues:
- The helicopter lacked standard callouts, which are specific phrases pilots are supposed to use during different phases of flight.
- A device that measures the helicopter’s altitude was out of order just six days before the crash.
- Important weather information, specifically dew point data, was not provided to the helicopter’s crew on the day of the accident.
Regarding the crash itself, Badeh explained that investigators found evidence that the helicopter was having difficulty maintaining its balance just before it hit the ocean. The last thing recorded on the cockpit voice recorder was an alarm warning the crew about the helicopter’s bank angle, followed by smoke coming from the engine just before the helicopter crashed into the water.
The NSIB also released additional reports on other aviation incidents, including a serious accident involving a Beech Baron 58 aircraft in Kaduna in December 2022.
In light of these findings, the NSIB has urged the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to enforce strict adherence to the regulations that require all helicopters weighing between 3,175 kg and 7,000 kg to be equipped with a Flight Data Recorder. This step is crucial to improve safety and prevent similar accidents in the future.
