AIB solicits information from public on Lagos crashed helicopter

Adefioye Iyunade 

The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has asked the general public to feel free to provide any information at their disposal on how the Bell 206-B3 helicopter crashed on Salvation Road, Opebi, in the Ikeja area of Lagos State, on Friday.

- Advertisement -

The bureau, urging eyewitnesses to contact it through its social media platforms,  said this would aid its investigation and help in unravelling the circumstances that led to the crash of the helicopter with Nationality Registration Marks 5N-BQW operated by Quorum Aviation.

In a statement in Lagos, the AIB said, “We want the public to know that we would be amenable to receiving any video clip, relevant evidence, or information any members of the public may have of the accident; that can assist us with this investigation.”

- Advertisement -

READ ALSO: At Last, Fani-Kayode says ‘I am deeply sorry,’ over verbal attack on journalist

AIB is the investigating body in charge of all aviation-related accidents and incidents in Nigeria. Contrary to earlier reports that the Black Box of the helicopter had been found, the AIB said the helicopter did not have a black box.

Black boxes, also known as flight recorders, are usually relied upon  for the improvement of aviation safety. Mostly, pilots’ last conversation prior to an accident could be retrieved from recordings from cockpit voice recorders which enable investigators to know what transpired before an accident.

But, AIB General Manager, Public Affairs, Tunji Oketumbi,  said, “It is not every aircraft that carries black boxes, especially helicopters, some of them have but some of them don’t have based on the manufacturer’s design. But in this case, the Bell 206-B3 helicopter did not carry any black box.

“A black box is just to show us the way and shorten the duration of investigation and narrow the process but we can still do investigation without it.”

Recall that all the three people aboard the helicopter died. Two of them died immediately while the third died later in the hospital.