The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has confirmed that the helicopter with registration 5NBQG, which crashed in Port Harcourt last week, was fully airworthy, dismissing reports that it had been scrapped in 2018.
NCAA Director General, Chris Najomo, issued a statement refuting claims by an online news platform that the helicopter, operated by East Wind Aviation, was decommissioned before its use in Nigeria.
The helicopter, engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), crashed on Thursday at approximately 11:22 a.m. along the waterways in Rivers State.
It had taken off from the Port Harcourt Military Base (DNPM), heading toward the FPSO – NUIMS ANTAN oil rig.
There were eight individuals on board at the time of the crash, with four bodies recovered so far. In his statement, Najomo reiterated that the aircraft was certified and maintained according to NCAA standards, calling the scrapping allegations inaccurate.
He said, “The attention of the Authority has been brought to a report by the Sahara reporters on the airworthiness status of the recently crashed helicopter with registration marks 5N-BQG prior to the crash.
“In their report, it was stated that the aircraft was initially registered in the year 2004 as 5N-BGN with Aero Contractors after which it was deregistered to Canada in the year 2009.
“The report then went on to state that the aircraft registration was cancelled in September 2018 after it was ‘presumably scrapped’. Their report was concluded with a question of how the Helicopter was moved to Nigeria and registered as 5N-BQG before the crash.”
Najomo said, “Based on our records, the following items are stated here to correct the wrong information published by the Sahara reporters on the subject matter:
“It is important to state that aircraft can be tracked not only by their registration marks but also by their Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN).The 5N-BQG S76C+Helicopter has its MSN as 760486 while the 5N-BGN S76C+ Helicopter has its MSN as 760468.
“The S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BGN and MSN:760468 was initially registered at the age of 7 Years on the 15th July, 2004 with Aero Contractors as the operator and Capital Aviation Services B.V. as the registered owner. The registration was re-issued on the 13th December, 2006 when the ownership of the helicopter changed to RBS Aerospace Limited.
“The S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BGN and MSN:760468 was de-registered by Aero Contractors on the 18th February, 2009 to Transport Canada.
“The S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BQG and MSN:760486 was initially registered at the age of 14 Years on the 10th DEC.2012 with Nestoil Plc as the registered operator and owner. The registration was re-issued on the 13th July, 2021 as a result of change of operator to OMNI-BLU Aviation LTD. and Ownership change to DANBA Associates LIMITED.
“A further amendment of the registration was done on the 30th of May,2022 when the ownership changed to EASTWIND AVIATION LOGISTICS SERVICES LIMITED while maintaining OMNI-BLU as the operator.
“The final amendment to the registration was on the 27th of February,2024 when the operator of the S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BQG and MSN: 760486 was changed to EASTWIND AVIATION LOGISTICS SERVICES LIMITED. By this action, EASTWIND AVIATION LOGISTICS SERVICES LIMITED became the registered operator and owner of the helicopter.
“Based on the following data from our records, it is clear that Sahara Reporters could not clearly differentiate the records of the recently crashed EASTWIND AVIATION LOGISTICS SERVICES LIMITED S76C+Helicopter with registration mark 5N-BQG and MSN: 760486 and the AERO CONTRACTORS DE-REGISTERED S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BGN and MSN: 760468.”
