The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has begun investigation into a serious incident involving a Bristow Helicopters’ Sikorsky 92 aircraft marked 5N-BOA.
Spokesman for the bureau, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi said in a statement that the aircraft, with 13 passengers on board was en route Port Harcourt from GERD, an offshore platform on October 25 when it declared emergency.
However, he said there was no fatality.
“From the information gathered so far, the pilot contacted the ATC about 1421 declaring left Engine Failure. The aircraft was cleared left Base Runway 22 for expeditious landing and landed safely.
“The AIB team of safety investigators from our regional office in Enugu has commenced investigation.
“As the investigating Agency, AIB wants the public to know that we would be amenable to receiving any video clip, relevant evidence or information any member of the public may have of the serious incident that can assist us with this investigation,” he said.
Meanwhile, the media consultant to the company, TopCom said in a statement that the helicopter company would cooperate with the “respective authorities leading the investigation into the incident.
“On October 25 2019 a Bristow crew followed established aircraft procedure (in line with Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority-approved Operations Manual Part B Checklist) to reduce an engine to idle power on an S-92 during flight as a precautionary measure following a warning in the cockpit.
“The aircraft was inbound to land at the Port Harcourt Nigerian Air Force Base from an offshore location with 11 passengers on board.
The incident occurred in the Port Harcourt Control Zone with approximately 4 nautical miles (nm) to land. The aircraft landed safely and taxied to the hangar without incident.
“Bristow is working with the respective authorities leading the investigation into the incident,” said TopCom’s principal public relations and media consultant, Mr. Mohammed Abdullahi in a statement.
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