NCAA clears air on airworthiness status of crashed helicopter in Rivers

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has clarified that the 5N-BQG helicopter that crashed in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, was airworthy.

Reports on Sunday claimed the helicopter was initially registered in 2004 as 5N-BGN and presumed scrapped in 2018.

However, in a statement signed by Chris Najomo, NCAA acting director-general (DG), the aviation authority said the 5N-BGN helicopter is different from the chopper that crashed on October 24.

According to the ministry of aviation and aerospace development, three persons died in the crash, and a search is ongoing to find the remaining passengers.

The helicopter, which has eight passengers on board and was operated by Eastwind Aviation Limited, was hired by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

It was travelling from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) base in Port Harcourt to NNPC’s floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility when it crashed.

NCAA said the crashed 5N-BQG helicopter was registered in 2012, contrary to claims that it was registered in 2004 under the 5N-BGN registration.

“The attention of the Authority has been brought to a report by Sahara Reporters on the airworthiness status of the recently crashed helicopter with registration marks 5N-BQG prior to the crash,” NCAA said.

“In their report, it was stated that the aircraft was initially registered in 2004 as 5N-BGN with Aero Contractors, and later deregistered to Canada in 2009.

“The report then concluded by questioning how the aircraft was transferred to Nigeria and re-registered as 5N-BQG before the crash.”

‘SIMILAR MANUFACTURER SERIAL NUMBER BUT DIFFERENT HELICOPTER’ 

To address the confusion, the NCAA said earlier reports mixed up the two helicopters due to their similar manufacturer serial number (MSN) codes.

NCAA said the Eastwind Aviation helicopter has MSN 760486, while the deregistered 5N-BGN helicopter has MSN 760468.

“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 NCAA said.

“The 5N-BQG S76C+ Helicopter has MSN 760486, while the 5N-BGN S76C+ Helicopter has MSN 760468.

“The S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BGN and MSN 760468 was first registered on 15 July 2004 with Aero Contractors as the operator and Capital Aviation Services B.V. as the owner.

“The registration was reissued on 13 December 2006 following a change of ownership to RBS Aerospace Limited.

“In February 2009, Aero Contractors deregistered the aircraft to Transport Canada.

“Meanwhile, the S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BQG and MSN 760486 was registered on 10 December 2012 with Nestoil Plc as the operator and owner.

“The registration was amended on 13 July 2021 due to a change of operator to OMNI-BLU Aviation Ltd. and ownership to DANBA Associates Limited.

“Further amendments were made on 30 May 2022 when ownership transferred to Eastwind Aviation Logistics Services Limited, though OMNI-BLU remained the operator.

“The final amendment was made on 27 February 2024, changing the operator to Eastwind Aviation Logistics Services Limited.”

The NCAA concluded that the reports mixed up the Eastwind Aviation helicopter with the chopper Aero previously operated.