The two remaining
persons on board the
ill-fated Bristow
helicopter that crashed
into the Lagos lagoon
on Wednesday have
been recovered.
The victims – the pilots, Captain Joseph Wyatt and First
Officer Peter Bello – who were fished out of the lagoon by
emergency management agencies and local divers at about
10.30am, had, however, died.
The recovery brought the number of deceased persons to
six.
PUNCH Metro had reported on Thursday that the chopper
had taken off from an oil rig station in the country for Lagos,
but plunged into the lagoon in the Alonge, Oworonshoki
area of the state five minutes before the arrival time.
It was also reported that of the 12 passengers, said to be oil
workers on board the flight, 10 were recovered on
Wednesday with four dead and six sustaining varying
degrees of injuries.
The General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency
Management Agency, Mr. Michael Akindele, said all the 12
persons that were on board had been accounted for.
He said, “The rescue mission as far as we are concerned has
been concluded.”
The South West Director of the National Emergency
Management Agency, Mr. Bandele Onibode, said the
Accident Investigation Bureau would handle the second
phase of the recovery, which involved the wreckage of the
helicopter
Black boxes missing –AIB
The Accident Investigation Bureau, the Federal Government
agency investigating the fatal air crash involving a chopper
belonging to Bristow Helicopters Nigeria Limited, on
Thursday said the black boxes of the ill-fated aircraft had yet
to be found over 24 hours after the accident.
The black boxes refer to the Flight Data Recorder and
Cockpit Voice Recorder. The two key safety devices, usually
installed in every aircraft, are meant to give indications of
the causes of an air accident.
The AIB Commissioner/ Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Felix
Abali, said search and rescue efforts made so far by agency’s
investigators had yet to produce the two crucial devices.
He, however, said some parts of the wreckage of the Sikorsy
S-76C+ chopper found and flight recordings obtained from
the Control Tower were already being examined by the
agency.
Abali said, “Search and rescue operation had been
concluded after which six of the 12 persons on board,
including the two crew members, were fatally injured while
the six survivors are receiving treatment at a hospital.
“The recovery of the aircraft wreckage, led by Julius Berger
Construction Company, is underway. Investigation
continues.”
The AIB commissioner also said the passengers manifest
would be released in due course, noting that the airline
would do so after contacting the air crash victims’ families.
On the information that that the plane was meant to carry
only eight passengers instead of 12 that it carried, Abali
merely said the plane had “12 souls on board.”
There had also been rumours that the aicraft had been
phased out, but the airline could not be reached for
immediate response.
Meanwhile, the management of Bristow Helicopters Nigeria
Limited confirmed that its pilots were among the victims of
the crash.
A statement by the Head, External Communications, Bristow
Helicopters, Julie King, read in part, “The Bristow flight crew
members that were among the fatalities, comprised Captain
Joseph “Jay” Wyatt of Oklahoma, US, and First Officer Peter
Bello of Nigeria.
“Captain Wyatt joined Bristow in 2006 and has spent his
entire career flying with Bristow Helicopters out of Africa.
First Officer Peter Bello joined Bristow in 2014 after
graduating from Bristow Academy’s helicopter flight school.”
Local divers tackle rescue agencies
Some local divers, comprising fishermen and commercial
boat operators on Thursday accused the emergency
agencies of reneging on the promise made to them prior to
the rescue of the victims.
They said contrary to a sum of N250,000 the agencies
reportedly promised to pay 12 of them who went into the
lagoon to recover the victims, they were eventually given
N100,000 after the operation.
A fisherman, Tosin Atolagbe, said, “We first rescued six
people alive. Later, we brought out four but they were dead.
We resumed this morning (Thursday) again and recovered
the two corpses left. With all the efforts we made, they gave
us N100,000 instead of the N250,000 they promised.”
A boat operator, Adedayo Hassan, said, “We had to go down
the water. They (victims) were at the front seat of the
helicopter and we had to break the glasses of the helicopter,
cut the belts they used before we were able to bring them
out.”
Injured victims moved to St. Nicholas Hospital
Six injured victims of the Bristow helicopter crash have been
moved to the St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos.
A source said the victims were currently being monitored to
prevent any complication from their injuries.
The source said, “They brought them (victims) here this
morning (Thursday) and they are doing fine. We will observe
them for some days to ensure that they did not sustain any
internal injury. ”
The hospital official, however, declined to disclose the
identity of the victims.
Also, at the Folabi Medical Centre, where two of the injured
victims were initially admitted, the Medical Director, Dr.
Olajide Afolabi, said they had been discharged.
He said, “Folabi Medical Centre respected their desire to
continue the treatment at another hospital. They were
discharged at about 11pm Wednesday.”

www.punchng.com/news/crash-pilots-recovered-dead-black-boxes-missing/

Smh

Lalasticlala,ishilove

Dead pilot Rip bro

The gods needed sacrifice....!!!

Life is full of intrigues at times. I will not die but live to declare the glory of God in my life.

black boxes are always the first to go missing.
RIP to d dead.

K

What is 250k for 12men for taking such a risk? And on top of that u gave them 100k, for what? For God's sake, they rescued lives and oda missin dead bodies.... Nawa




They deserved atleast 1mil if not that naija is corrupt


They deserved national recognition biko

T

Will d missing blaq box bring d dead baq to life?

Black boxes, like the ones in Nikita

Let's hope we get a conclusive finding from those boxes, ...like the previous ones