A year after the tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of former Access Holdings CEO, Herbert Wigwe, his wife, son, and three others, American investigators have now confirmed what many feared: the crash was avoidable.
The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), in its final report released on Wednesday, pointed to pilot error caused by “spatial disorientation” as the leading cause of the fatal accident.
According to the NTSB, the pilot made a critical mistake by continuing to fly under visual flight rules even after the weather conditions had clearly deteriorated and required the use of instruments.
“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,” was the agency’s final verdict on the crash.
The report also revealed deeper issues with the helicopter operator itself, slamming the company for poor oversight and loose safety procedures.
Investigators found that the operator failed to carry out proper risk assessments, neglected to document maintenance issues, and showed a lack of compliance with aviation rules before take-off.
The crash happened on 9 February 2024, near the California-Nevada border. On board the ill-fated helicopter were Wigwe, his wife Doreen, their son Chizi, and Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group, along with the pilot and co-pilot. Sadly, no one survived.
The NTSB revealed that the pilot most likely got confused while trying to navigate in bad weather, losing control before the aircraft crashed into the terrain.
“The pilot likely experienced spatial disorientation while manoeuvring the helicopter in IMC, which led to his loss of helicopter control and the resulting collision with terrain,” the report read.
Adding to the concerns, investigators found that one of the helicopter’s vital safety tools — the radar altimeter — was not working at the time of the flight.
The pilot had complained about the malfunction to the company’s maintenance director via text message. A mechanic did attempt to fix it but could not.
“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 report noted.
Shockingly, despite knowing the radar altimeter was not working, the pilot and the company’s director of maintenance still went ahead with the flight.
“The mechanic reported that the pilot and the DOM [director of maintenance] were aware that the radar altimeter was not functioning, yet they departed at 1822 on the positioning flight to pick up the passengers,” the report revealed.
Even after picking up the passengers, the pilot and the flight follower exchanged messages, but there was no mention of the faulty radar altimeter or the worsening weather.
