The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded that the helicopter crash which killed former Access Holdings CEO, Herbert Wigwe, along with his wife, son, and three others, was caused by pilot error linked to spatial disorientation during adverse weather conditions.
In its final report released on Wednesday, the NTSB stated that the pilot of the Airbus Helicopters EC130B4 continued flying under visual flight rules (VFR) despite entering instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), resulting in the loss of control and subsequent crash.
“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.
The February 9, 2024 crash near the California-Nevada border killed all six people on board: Herbert Wigwe, his wife Doreen, their son Chizi, former NGX Group chairman Abimbola Ogunbanjo, and two crew members. The helicopter, registered as N130CZ, went down during a night flight that began under VFR conditions.
The report found that the helicopter operator failed to enforce several safety protocols, including conducting proper flight risk assessments, documenting maintenance issues, and ensuring regulatory compliance before takeoff.
The NTSB noted that a critical safety device, the radar altimeter, was non-functional during the crash flight. “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 stated.
It added that the mechanic informed both the pilot and the director of maintenance of the unresolved issue. Despite this, the aircraft departed at 6:22 p.m. for a positioning flight to collect passengers.
According to the investigation, once the passengers were picked up, the pilot and the company’s flight follower exchanged messages, but there was no mention of the faulty altimeter or the weather conditions at the time.
The NTSB concluded that the operator’s “inadequate oversight of its safety management processes” contributed to the accident.
