Hasty speculations violate rules of helicopter crash probe

The crash of a Sikorsky SK76, with registration 5NBQG, operated by East Wind Aviation recently has elicited varied reactions from aviation and outside of the industry.

The comments by some self-styled aviation experts, self-appointed stakeholders and journalists have again brought to the fore the cardinal rule of aviation reporting which makes it highly unprofessional to give the cause of a crash that its investigation has not started not to talk of an accident which preliminary report has not been made public.

It is even shocking that some ‘experts’ in a report by a national newspaper (Name withheld) had even gone ahead to advise the aviation regulatory body, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to oversight the helicopter that killed eight occupants of the ill-fated flight on October 25, 2024.

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), the body responsible for investigating air crashes in Nigeria, in conjunction with the Search and Recovery partners NNPC, NIMASA, the Nigerian Navy, and HydroDive nearly three weeks ago recovered the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), commonly referred to as ‘black box’ from the crashed Sikorsky SK76 helicopter.

The primary functions of an aircraft black box, also known as a flight recorder, are to record data and sound related to the aircraft’s operation and to help investigators determine the causes of an accident.

The black box records a variety of technical information, including the aircraft’s speed, altitude, position, control settings, and vibrations.

The black box also records conversations between the pilots, copilots, and passengers, as well as ambient cockpit noise.

The data and sound recorded by the black box help investigators reconstruct the events leading up to an accident and determine its causes.

This equipment specifically gives the NSIB all it needs to unravel the cause of the accident. If that is so, it is preposterous to begin to hazard a guess on the exact cause of an accident that the NSIB is yet to find all the debris from the helicopter.

The allegation of the age of the helicopter that crashed equally put to question the deep knowledge of the operation of aircraft.

This is in contrast to the insinuation that for deepwater operations, old aircraft should be discouraged and for relatively new aircraft because they operate better in difficult terrain with stringent operations.

They noted that with that age it can withstand the challenge thrown at it by the operating environment. There’s a common misconception that age might mean a plane is less reliable or unsafe. That’s not the case.

Experts say an aircraft is airworthy as long as it is well-maintained. The airframe itself is the only piece that remains more or less the same.

Sanjiv Gautam, former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, says parts ranging from fuselage, wings, engine, propeller and landing gear all have their finite lives—the period they are safe to fly before metal fatigue poses a safety threat.

“In aviation terminology, it is called a cycle.” “If the cycle of the parts ends, it has to be changed or overhauled according to their calendar age. The overhauling means the aircraft becomes new again. So, planes are never old,” he said.

No matter how old the plane is, unlike an old car, there is a buttload of inspectors looking every inch over to make sure the thing doesn’t fall out of the sky and hit you in the face, and that it has been adequately maintained. All the maintenance done on the plane has been written in the log. You can’t necessarily say that about a car.

If a plane has gone too long without required maintenance on a certain component, the plane gets grounded. If a plane gets old to the point it is a maintenance nightmare to someone and they run out of money, it is sold to someone who has the money to eventually put the old treasure back in the air.

In truth, aircraft can be old in the real sense of it, but the age of an aircraft is inconsequential. There are procedures for ageing aircraft and helicopters that are part of the regulations of the aviation regulatory body.

In the realm of aviation safety, the age of an aircraft should not be a primary concern. Instead, the focus should be on the critical factors that truly matter.

If an older aircraft has been meticulously serviced or refurbished, it can offer a flight experience as smooth as the day it was rolled off the assembly line. Key to this is adherence to the manufacturer’s specifications and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States of America requirements for Part 135 operations and the regulations of Nigeria’s NCAA. When these standards are met or exceeded, you can rest assured that your journey will be safe and comfortable.

As earlier explained, when the report of the NSIB is made public, only then can one speak with confidence on the cause of the accident. Only then can discussions on what was supposed to be done that was not done be had. It would be premature at this stage to run faster than our legs and begin to point to what exactly caused the helicopter crash offshore Calabar, Nigeria.

Piqued by allegations that the crashed helicopter was a ‘scrap’, the Acting Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo revealed the status of the aircraft. The regulatory authority said it has to clear the air about the genesis of the aircraft due to conflicting reports that emerged after the tragic accident.

The allegation stated that the aircraft was initially registered in 2004 as 5N-BGN with Aero Contractors after which it was deregistered to Canada in 2009.

Reports further stated that the aircraft registration was cancelled in September 2018 after it was “presumably scrapped”, without clearly stating how the equipment was brought to Nigeria.

NCAA, in its response, stated that based on its records, the aircraft could be tracked not only by their registration marks but also by their Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN), adding that the 5N-BQG S76C+Helicopter has its MSN as 760486. In contrast, the 5N-BGN S76C+ Helicopter has its MSN as 760468.

The acting director general of NCAA, Chris Najomo, stated that the S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BGN and MSN:760468 were initially registered at the age of seven years on July 15th, 2004 with Aero Contractors as the operator and Capital Aviation Services B.V. as the registered owner.

Najomo said the registration was re-issued on December 13, 2006 when the ownership of the helicopter changed to RBS Aerospace Limited.

He noted that the reports making rounds could not differentiate the records of the recently crashed Eastwind Aviation Logistics Services Ltd S76C+Helicopter with registration mark 5N-BQG and MSN: 760486 and the Aero Contractors re-registered Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BGN and MSN: 760468.

Shadare, an Aviation Analyst, wrote from Lagos.