The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has finally released it’s preliminary reports on why the recent helicopter crash that occurred in Lagos state happened.
The reports released on Monday, September 21 show that the helicopter crashed because the fuel tank was empty.
Recall that the Bell 206B helicopter crashed into a building in the Opebi area of Lagos in August 2020.
The AIB’s reports revealed that despite the fact that the helicopter fuel tank was filled to capacity before take off, the chopper could not make it to its destination (Lagos Airport) from Port Harcourt.
The agency made it clear that the last medical examination of the late pilot was valid till August 6, 2020, adding that there was no evidence that an application for the exemption provided by the All Operators’ Letter (AOL) DG02020 had been submitted to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Experts had claimed that the accident was due to inadequate fuel that could not get it the airport which was only two minutes away before the tragedy.
Moreover, before the crash, the pilot’s last proficiency check was, according to the report, valid till August 24, 2020 and that there was no proof to the claim that an application for the exemption provided by the AIL DG018/ 20 had been submitted to the NCAA.
Part of the report read: ”The helicopter crashed into the roof of a building and a wall fence impacting two vehicles parked in the compound. The mast and main rotor blades were found intact during the post-crash inspection. Post occurrence examination revealed that the fuel tanks were empty.
“The helicopter was not equipped with a flight data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder. Neither was required by the relevant aviation regulations but equipped with a Garmic GNC Global Positioning System.”
