AIB blames poor visibility for Osinbajo helicopter crash

The Accident Investigation Bureau has released the preliminary report of the helicopter accident involving the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

The Commissioner, AIB, Mr Akin Olateru, on Wednesday, said the investigation was still ongoing but that among other causal factors, the crew lost visual contact with the ground at landing due to a “brownout.”

According to him, brownout is caused by landing in a dry, sandy environment.

An AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter, with registration number 5N-CML, conveying the Vice-President to a campaign rally in Kogi State crash-landed in Kabba on February 2. There were no casualties among the 12 passengers and crew members on board.

Olateru said the helicopter had a valid certificate of airworthiness of the time of the accident, adding that everything was normal at take-off until few minutes into landing.

He added that the flight crew were properly licensed, and rested adequately to operate the flight and that the captain was the pilot flying and the co-pilot was the pilot monitoring

Olateru, however, stated that Caverton Helicopters Limited did not conduct a site survey of the landing field prior to the flight and did not carry out a safety and risk assessment.

“If there was a proper survey and analysis of the area, the operators of the helicopter would have made the landing area wet to avoid brownout,” he said.

The commissioner explained that the flight data recorder data indicated that the take-off and climb-out phase was normal and that the helicopter levelled off at a cruising altitude of 5,000 feet flying with autopilot.

He stated that the helicopter was monitored on Abuja Approach Radar until 55 nautical miles to Kabba, when the helicopter began to descend.

The commissioner stated that despite losing visual contact with the ground and electing to use the Instantaneous Vertical Speed Indicator and Radio Altimeter to control the descent, the captain was, however, able to shut the engines while the co-pilot shut off the fuel.

He added that the flight crew executed the emergency landing procedures, which included switching off the battery and the generators before the helicopter crash-landed.

This, he said, was the reason why the helicopter did not burst into flames.

(NAN)