Crashed Helicopter Flying NNPC Officials Broke Aviation Regulations – FG

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has come out to say that the handlers of the Sikorsky SK76 helicopter violated several of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations directives.

This is coming after the helicopter crashed in Port Harcourt, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, the Director-General of NSIB, Alex Badeh, the crashed helicopter was actually not fitted with a Flight Data Recorder, and that was a clear violation of the Part 7.8.2.2(q) of Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) Act 2023.

He added that the helicopter crew members also used non-standard phraseology throughout the flight.

His words, “The helicopter was fitted with a solid-state cockpit voice recorder; The helicopter was not fitted with a Flight Data Recorder; although Part 7.8.2.2(q) of Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) 2023 requires that FDR shall be fitted on the helicopter; The flight crew used non-standard phraseology throughout the flight.

There were no standard callouts for the various phases of the flight; The helicopter Radio Altimeter (Rad alt) was snagged and deferred on October 18, 2024, six days before the accident; No dew point data was reported in the weather information passed to 5N-BQG on the day of the occurrence.

Struggling to gain balance right before crashing into the ocean.”

WOW.