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More facts are beginning to emerge on the chopper incident that consumed the life of Herbert Wigwe of Access Holdings Plc, this is as fresh facts available to this newspaper indicate that Aig-Imoukhuede was also on board a helicopter heading to the same venue as his partner, at the same time…
Preliminary information reaching ENigeria News indicates that Aig-Imoukhuede a co-founder of Access Bank was also in a Chopper heading to the same venue as his late partner, Wigwe, and his family whose chopper suddenly crashed on Friday night.
ENigeria Newspaper understands that Some of the circumstances surrounding the helicopter crash that killed all six occupants have been revealed.
Shannon D. Dicus, San Bernardino County’s Sheriff-Coroner, confirmed that the crash occurred on Friday night, February 9.
“On February 9, 2024, at approximately 10:12 pm, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dispatch received notification of a downed aircraft,” Dicus’ statement read on Saturday.
“The scene of the crash was determined to be approximately one-quarter mile east of Interstate 15, near Halloran Springs Road.
“It has been confirmed all six people on board the aircraft are deceased. The identities of the deceased will be released once positive identification has been made and next of kin notifications have been made.”
Friends and family members have confirmed that Wigwe, his wife, Chizoba, and their son were in the helicopter. Bamofin Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former chair of NGX Group, was also flying with Wigwe.
There were four passengers – a pilot and a safety copilot in the helicopter.
While the United States’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have begun investigating the cause of the helicopter crash, officials and witnesses have shared details of what they know so far.
Michael Graham of the NTSB said that the crash happened south of I-15 near Halloran Springs Road, about 120 kilometres northeast of Barstow in San Bernardino County.
Graham said that the Airbus EC-130 helicopter did not have a cockpit voice recorder or a flight data recorder. He also said that the helicopter was not required to have that equipment.
According to the NTSB, ”large commercial aircraft and some smaller commercial, corporate, and private aircraft are required by the FAA to be equipped with two “black boxes” that record information about a flight. Both recorders are installed to help reconstruct the events leading to an aircraft accident.”
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) records radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit, such as the pilot’s voices and engine noises, while the flight data recorder (FDR) monitors parameters such as altitude, airspeed and heading.
The Airbus EC-130 left Palm Springs Airport at around 8:45 pm on Friday and was travelling to Boulder City, Nevada. Orbic Air, a private touring company, operated the flight.
Eyewitness reports came from commuters travelling on Interstate 15.
The Associated Press reported that witnesses told Graham they noticed it was raining with a “wintry mix” at the time of the crash. People also reported a fire on the helicopter and some downed power lines.
A US Marine Corps helicopter went down under bad weather conditions in the mountains outside San Diego just three days before the Airbus EC-130 crash on Friday. That accident killed all five Marines on board.
According to a report available to ENigeria News, Aig-Imoukhuede who is also in California flew in a separate helicopter and landed safely. At the time of filing this report, it is not known if they were ahead or behind the copter that crashed near Nipton, California with Wigwe and family on board.
While one had Wigwe and his family on board, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Wigwe’s business partner and former Access bank CEO, and Tunde Folawiyo, business mogul, were reportedly aboard the second chopper….
