Dark skies, bad weather could have led to fatal California helicopter crash that killed 6
LOS ANGELES — Two aviation experts who reviewed newly released photos and videos of Friday’s helicopter crash that killed a prominent Nigerian banker and five others said the flight likely should have been canceled due to poor overnight weather conditions in Southern California’s Mojave Desert.
The National Transportation Safety Board this week released photos and videos of the mangled wreckage as its investigators continue to investigate what caused the crash. The agency’s preliminary investigation report will be released in the coming weeks.
Weather reports from the time show a mix of rain and snow, and the plane flew over a remote part of the desert where the pilot would likely have had little light for the pilot to navigate through, aside from the headlights and taillights of cars along the motorway.
“If I had been in charge, I definitely would have said, ‘No, thank you,’” aviation safety consultant and retired Marine Corps Colonel Pete Field told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
Access Bank CEO Herbert Wigwe and his wife and 29-year-old son were among those on board the helicopter when it crashed near Interstate 15 shortly after 10 p.m. Bamofin Abimbola Ogunbanjo, former chairman of the Nigerian stock exchange, was also present. killed. Their deaths shocked many in Nigeria and in the banking sector.
Officials said the pilots – Benjamin Pettingill, 25, and Blake Hansen, 22 – also died in the crash. A member of Hansen’s family said Wednesday they were grieving and declined to comment.
The helicopter left Palm Springs Airport around 8:45 p.m. Friday and was headed to Boulder City, Nevada, Graham said. Boulder City is about 25 miles southeast of Las Vegas, where the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in Super Bowl 58. Wigwe’s destination after the plane landed has not been confirmed.
The charter company, Orbic Air LLC, declined to comment Wednesday.
Flight data shows the helicopter followed the highway until it made a gentle right turn south of the roadway, the NTSB said. The data then shows a gradual decrease and increasing ground speed.
The wreck site, with a debris field about 300 feet (91.44 meters) long, shows the helicopter struck the ground with its nose low at a right bank corner, the NTSB said. Witnesses reported there was a fire in the helicopter and power lines were downed, the NTSB said.
Cutting the power lines, which may have been difficult for the pilot to see in the dark, could have caused the crash, said Al Diehl, a former NTSB investigator.
“Within seconds you can become disoriented,” he said.
Authorities have said there was a pilot and a safety pilot, but did not say who served in what role. Both were licensed as commercial helicopter pilots and flight instructors. The Airbus EC-130 only has single-pilot controls.
The crash occurred just three days after a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed in the mountains outside San Diego during historic rainstorms, killing five Marines.
“It’s been a terrible few weeks for helicopters in Southern California,” Diehl said.
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Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed.