AIB report says no fuel found in crashed Quorum helicopter
The Accident Investigation Bureau has said there was no fuel in the tank of the ill-fated Bell 206B III Helicopter which crashed into a building at Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos on August 28.
This was contained in its preliminary report released on Monday.
However, the report revealed that the chopper had been topped to full tank capacity on August 27 at Port Harcourt before embarking on the journey the following day.
The report also indicated that there was no evidence showing that the pilot had applied for the exemption provided by the NCAA’s All Operators’ Letter AOL DG020/20 neither was there evidence of an application for the exemption provided by the AOL DG018/20 for proficiency check.
According to the AIB, the chopper which took off from Port Harcourt at 9.20am estimated to land in Lagos after two hours forty minutes crashed into a residential building at 12.14 pm.
It lost contact with the control tower at 11:16 am.
Part of the report read, “There was no fuel left in the fuel tanks after the crash. The mast and main rotor blades were found intact during the post-crash inspection.”
However, operators of the crashed helicopter, Quorum Aviation Limited, has said that it sent a letter to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority requesting an extension of its pilot’s licence to fly the ill-fated Bell 206B III helicopter.
The company identified the pilot as Captain Chika Prudence Ernest.
The findings made by the AIB revealed that the pilot’s last medical examination was valid till August 6 while the proficiency check was valid till August 24.
According to the company, in a letter titled ‘Request for the extension of our pilot’s recency’, referenced an earlier memo by the NCAA titled ‘Ref: NCAA/DOT/GEN012/20/002- Exemption document pilot recency issued 18th June 2020’, it requested for the pilot’s extension and exemption 10 days before the crash.
The letter was written by the Managing Director and Accountable Manager, Quorum Aviation Limited, Abiola Lawal.
According to Quorum Aviation, they sought to extend Ernest’s licence because of the challenges in organising additional crew travel training and his wealth of experience.
The letter also said that the airline was aware that his proficiency licence would expire August 24 but sought an extension till things settled down post-COVID-19.
The letter dated August 18th 2020 was directed to the NCAA Director-General, Capt. Musa Nuhu, it said.
The letter made available to our correspondent read in part, “Given the challenges of the COVID-19 in organising additional crew travel and training, we hereby wish to request for the exemption/extension of our pilot Captian Chika Prudence Ernest Licence ATPL (H) 6245 under the above exemption granted by the DG in the above referenced circular.” Punch
