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Crashed Sikorsky helicopter crew disoriented before crash

- Used non-standard phraseology during flight, Struggled with aircraft
- Helicopter fitted with no FDR, CVR recovered from the seabed
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) on Tuesday released a preliminary report of an accident involving a Sikorsky S76C helicopter with registration 5N-BQG operated by East Wind Aviation Logistics Services Limited which occurred in the Atlantic Ocean South East of Eket, Bight of Bonny which occurred on October 24, 2024, killing all the eight occupants of the ill-fated aircraft.
This preliminary report provides details of the initial facts, discussions, and findings surrounding the occurrence.
The Director-General of NSIB, Alex Badeh Jr while addressing the media on the causes of the accident and six other accident and incident reports in Abuja said the East Wind helicopter accident according to investigators that the helicopter appeared to be “Struggling to gain balance right before it crashed into the ocean.”
5N-BQG registered helicopter crashed into the ocean, and all its eight occupants were fatally injured. The accident occurred at 11:25 h in daylight. The aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and disintegrated.
Badeh Jr further noted that investigation showed that the crew appeared to struggle was followed by an aural warning from the aircraft, “Bank angle, Bank angle,” which was the last recorded data on the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) with smoke emanating from the engine ditch into the water.
Findings by investigators highlighted that the flight crew used non-standard phraseology throughout the flight and a discovery that there were no standard callouts for the various phases of the flight.
The NSIB boss revealed that the helicopter was not fitted with a Flight Data Recorder (FDR).
The helicopter Radio Altimeter (Radalt) was snagged and deferred on October 18, 2024, six days before the accident.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) 2023 Part 7.8.2.2(q) requires all helicopters with a maximum take-off mass of over 3, 175kg and up to 7,000kg shall be fitted with an FDR.
The report disclosed that the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) was recovered from the seabed at the accident site on 8 November 2024, 13th days after the accident, stressing that upon recovery, the CVR was immersed in fresh water in a container and transported to the flight recorder laboratory of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States of America for readout and analysis.
The last 31 minutes of the CVR recording were successfully downloaded.
According to the report, “At 11:23:32 the (Pilot Monitoring) PM remarked on the weather. He said, “It’s a light shower“, followed by a sarcastic chuckle. The (Pilot Flying) PF remarked, “Climb, Climb, Climb,” to which the PM replied, “We are climbing, eh.” The PM advised the PF that the only way to climb was to engage airspeed mode and use the collective.”
“At 11:23:45 h, the PM further advised the PF, “Hold there, left pedal put left pedal Okay.” The PM then suggested to the PF whether the vertical speed (rate of climb) could be increased to 300 ft/min, which the PF acknowledged in the affirmative, “Yeah, increase it.”
“At 11:24:52 h, the PM remarked, “This thing is not working …” This was followed by an aural warning from the aircraft, “Bank angle, Bank angle,” which was the last recorded data on the CVR.”
“At About 11:25 h, a person on duty at Nuim Antan reported to the Helicopter Landing Officer (HLO) that he saw a helicopter from the western route with thick smoke emanating from the engine ditch into the water. The personnel stated that the helicopter appeared to be struggling to gain balance right before it crashed into the ocean.”
The report further stated that a search and rescue operation was activated involving combined efforts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), HD PIONEER Hydro Drive, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and several ships that were sailing around the vicinity of the accident site.
The NSIB as part of its recommendation charged the NCAA should ensure strict compliance to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) 2023 part 7.8.2.2(q) which requires that all helicopters with a maximum takeoff mass over 3175 kg and up to 7000 kg to be fitted with a Flight Data Recorder (FDR).
Other reports released by the NSIB include a final report on the serious Incident involving Beech Baron 58 aircraft operated by Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria with nationality and registration marks 5N-CAG which occurred on runway 05 at General Hassan Usman Katsina International Airport, Kaduna Nigeria on 31 December 2022.

Final report on the accident involving a Bell 429 Helicopter operated by Nigeria Police Air Wing with nationality and registration marks 5N-MDA, which occurred at Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Airport Bauchi, Nigeria on 26 January 2022 among others.
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