Real Reason Herbert Wigwe’s Helicopter Crashed, US Safety Agency

A United States, US Safety agency, has stated the real reason the helicopter conveying former Access Holdings Chief Executive Officer (CEO) crashed.

The United States National Transportation Safety Board issued a report on the crash today, about a year after the crash occurred, killing Herbert Wigwe, his wife, son, and three others, crashed has emerged.

Before now, there has been submissions that the aircraft, registered as N130CZ, operated under visual flight rules, crashing near the California-Nevada border on February 9, 2024.

The 6 people that were casualties included the Access Holdings CEO Wigwe, his wife Doreen, their son Chizi, and former group chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.

The accident left Nigerians in utter shock draping the nation’s corporate community in deep mourning.

Attributing the cause of the crash to pilot error caused by spatial disorientation, the NTSB in its final report accused the helicopter company of “inadequate oversight of its safety management processes”.

It talked about the pilot’s decision to continue the visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control.”

The NTSB report stated in part: “The pilot likely experienced spatial disorientation while maneuvering the helicopter in IMC [instrument meteorological conditions], which led to his loss of helicopter control and the resulting collision with terrain,” the report stated.

“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.

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“The mechanic reported that the pilot and the DOM [director of maintenance] were aware that the radar altimeter was not functioning, yet they departed at 1822 on the positioning flight to pick up the passengers”, the US safety agency said.

The death of Herbert Wigwe left many in shock, with sundry lessons of the ephemeral nature of life and positions.