I have taken a critical look at today helicopter crash and even before the AIB will conclude it's investigation I am 100 percent sure the helicopter crashed as a result fuel exhaustion lack of fuel .

How did I come to this conclusion? Before we get to this let me give a brief cap of the ill fated flight .. The chopper in question was 1986 Bell 206 single rotor helicopter being operated Quorum Aviation Limited (QAL). The ill-fated flight was on a trip from Portharcourt to Lagos .The bell 206 is light helicopter made by Bell Helicopters of America and went into service in 1967.

Now to why I believe the helicopter ran out of fuel minutes away from it Lagos LZ ( Landing Zone ).. I watched a video of the helicopter as it fell from the sky in Ikeja area and the first thing I noticed from the footage was that it was a controlled crash land as the helicopter had been put in autorotate mode either by the pilot or or the RPM governor ... Autorotate is when an helicopter Main and tail rotors are disengage from engine transmission allowing both rotors to rotate freely using inertia and air feathering , this free roll helps the pilot have some level of control of over the aircraft and prevents the fuselage from being thrown into a spin as the pilot tries to manage the controlled crash land . Autorotate can either be activated by the pilot or automatically when the engine goes below 1000 RPM .

The next thing I noticed is when the helicopter slammed into the ground there was no single explosion , fire or even smoke as is expected from any aircraft carrying aviation fuel and the only reason this happened is because the aircraft didn't have any fuel in it's tank , fuel line , turbine or engine .

So below is my rendition of the ill fated flight:

Helicopter left Portharcourt for Lagos with 3 crew members onboard.


Helicopter pilot miscalculated the weight of fuel it needed to balance it's load and flight plan

15 mins to Lagos the crew got the low fuel warning but believed they could Jing it as they where already near Lagos.

Just minutes away from their LZ somewhere in Ikeja the engine flamed out and the pilot made mayday call informing the air traffic of loss of power and plans to attempt a controlled crash which was quite successful as he managed to avoid crashing into any building in the heavily built up area .

Helicopter slams into an open space in a residential compound with zero incendiary.

Below I have attached pictures of the crash scene where you will notice the crash didn't even attempt to start any level of fire .

Hmm.. Dash board no dey helicopter?
How come there will be shortage of fuel and the thing didn't show up in the dash board even the pilot didn't even notice.. Hwfa op is there more to what you type up there?

Is it the pilot that fuels the helicopters?

Maybe the pilot was trying to do what ilesha drivers usually do, they will speedup for some minutes, then off engine and coast till the car have almost stop, but unfortunately for the pilot, engine didn't start again.

Good observations, With the way this chopper was mangled one would expect there to be some fire as in the case of Kobe Bryant's Ill fated flight and that of Leicester FC owner's crash.

Na fuel finish for this helicopter

ArcFresky:
Is it the pilot that fuels the helicopters?

Maybe the pilot was trying to do what ilesha drivers usually do, they will speedup for some minutes, then off engine and coast till the car have almost stop, but unfortunately for the pilot, engine didn't start again.

Yes the pilot is responsible for making his fuel calculation after checking his flight plan and the load he will be carrying

Hellraiser77:
Good observations, With the way this chopper was mangled one would expect there to be some fire as in the case of Kobe Bryant's Ill fated flight and that of Leicester FC owner's crash.

Na fuel finish for this helicopter

The lack of any fire or even smoke shows there wasn't even fuel vapor there bro

Where is that my guy that blasted BAT yesterday and accused Starboy PYO of using that heli to cover up stolen funds...
Abeg he needs to do another post on this new incident.
His writing style is top notch

NobleSeed:
Hmm.. Dash board no dey helicopter?
How come there will be shortage of fuel and the thing didn't show up in the dash board even the pilot didn't even notice.. Hwfa op is there more to what you type up there?

Fuel in an aircraft is not calculated in litres but weight and yes they don't have the kind of visula fuel gauge in a car ..it's very easy to miscalculate your fuel load if you dont measure it against your flight plan and cruise load .

GamalNasser:
I have taken a critical look at today helicopter crash and even before the AIB will conclude it's investigation I am 100 percent sure the helicopter crashed as a result fuel exhaustion lack of fuel .

How did I come to this conclusion? Before we get to this let me give a brief cap of the ill fated flight .. The chopper in question was 1986 Bell 206 single rotor helicopter being operated Quorum Aviation Limited (QAL). The ill-fated flight was on a trip from Portharcourt to Lagos .The bell 206 is light helicopter made by Bell Helicopters of America and went into service in 1967.

Now to why I believe the helicopter ran out of fuel minutes away from it Lagos LZ ( Landing Zone ).. I watched a video of the helicopter as it fell from the sky in Ikeja area and the first thing I noticed from the footage was that it was a controlled crash land as the helicopter had been put in autorotate mode either by the pilot or or the RPM governor ... Autorotate is when an helicopter Main and tail rotors are disengage from engine transmission allowing both rotors to rotate freely using inertia and air feathering , this free roll helps the pilot have some level of control of over the aircraft and prevents the fuselage from being thrown into a spin as the pilot tries to manage the controlled crash land . Autorotate can either be activated by the pilot or automatically when the engine goes below 1000 RPM .

The next thing I noticed is when the helicopter slammed into the ground there was no single explosion , fire or even smoke as is expected from any aircraft carrying aviation fuel and the only reason this happened is because the aircraft didn't have any fuel in it's tank , fuel line , turbine or engine .

So below is my rendition of the ill fated flight:

Helicopter left Portharcourt for Lagos with 3 crew members onboard.


Helicopter pilot miscalculated the weight of fuel it needed to balance it's load and flight plan

15 mins to Lagos the crew got the low fuel warning but believed they could Jing it as they where already near Lagos.

Just minutes away from their LZ somewhere in Ikeja the engine flamed out and the pilot made mayday call informing the air traffic of loss of power and plans to attempt a controlled crash which was quite successful as he managed to avoid crashing into any building in the heavily built up area .

Helicopter slams into an open space in a residential compound with zero incendiary.

Below I have attached pictures of the crash scene where you will notice the crash didn't even attempt to start any level of fire .

I was discussing this with my mom O! No smoke, no fire! Most airlines manage their fuel to Lagos. I just hope they will release what happen

GamalNasser:


Fuel in an aircraft is not calculated in litres but weight and yes they don't have the kind of visula fuel gauge in a car ..it's very easy to miscalculate your fuel load if you dont measure it against your flight plan and cruise load .

There is a light that come on when your fuel is low on aircraft, may be they thought it will be enough to land at the airport.

Most likely shortage of fuel. That's also my conclusion. could have been worse, thank goodness people weren't gathered around.

kiss the truth!

TimeManager:
Most likely shortage of fuel. That's also my conclusion. could have been worse, thank goodness people weren't gathered around.

kiss the truth!

Kiss the truth good bye because the investigator will blame the pilot for the crash, after money don exchange hand

tutudesz:

There is a light that come on when your fuel is low on aircraft, may be they thought it will be enough to land at the airport.

Yes that's what must have happened ..they were less than two minutes away from their base when they fell

GamalNasser:


Yes that's what must have happened ..they were less than two minutes away from their base when they fell

There are many places they could have landed safely!! A secondary school is close by, Sheraton has a big car park and he could have landed on the road too.

tutudesz:

There are many places they could have landed safely!! A secondary school is close by, Sheraton has a big car park and he could have landed on the road too.

From the footage I saw By the time they were over Opebi the helicopter was already in Auto rotate and deep into its controlled decent ..I wonder why he didn't land in the Lekki area because that's where his flight plan will take him. Through but again these young pilots don't want any incident marked on their log and any AIB debriefing that will happen if you land your helicopter outside your flight plan and then they find out you made the emergency landing because of low fuel scare ..

NobleSeed:
Hmm.. Dash board no dey helicopter?
How come there will be shortage of fuel and the thing didn't show up in the dash board even the pilot didn't even notice.. Hwfa op is there more to what you type up there?

What if there is dashboard, supposing exhaustion of fuel mid air, do you expect the pilot to fuel the aircraft in the air? The OP has just explained in his write up that the pilot may have miscalculated the weight of fuel it needed to balance it's load and flight plan. Pls let's endeavor to commend ones effort whenever the need arises. The OP had given a comprehensive analysis of what could possibly have been the cause of the crash of the ill-fated helicopter.

GamalNasser:


From the footage I saw By the time they were over Opebi the helicopter was already in Auto rotate and deep into its controlled decent ..I wonder why he didn't land in the Lekki area because that's where his flight plan will take him. Through but again these young pilots don't want any incident marked on their log and any AIB debriefing that will happen if you land your helicopter outside your flight plan and then they find out you made the emergency landing because of low fuel scare ..

Where did you watch the video?

GamalNasser:


From the footage I saw By the time they were over Opebi the helicopter was already in Auto rotate and deep into its controlled decent ..I wonder why he didn't land in the Lekki area because that's where his flight plan will take him. Through but again these young pilots don't want any incident marked on their log and any AIB debriefing that will happen if you land your helicopter outside your flight plan and then they find out you made the emergency landing because of low fuel scare ..

The company willl even sack you, for performing an emergency landing. The pilot took a big risk and they paid with their lives.

NobleSeed:
Hmm.. Dash board no dey helicopter?
How come there will be shortage of fuel and the thing didn't show up in the dash board even the pilot didn't even notice.. Hwfa op is there more to what you type up there?

What if there was dashboard, supposing there was exhaustion of fuel mid air, do you expect the pilot to fuel the aircraft in the air? The OP has just explained in his write up that the pilot may have miscalculated the weight of fuel it needed to balance its load and flight plan. Pls let's endeavor to commend ones effort whenever the need arises. The OP had given a comprehensive analysis of what could possibly have been the cause of the crash of the ill-fated helicopter. Your contrary view or opinion is highly welcome, sir.

ArewaOduduwaBia:

Where did you watch the video?

Saw grainy footage somewhere on Instagram captured by someone around there I believe seconds before it fell

GamalNasser:


Fuel in an aircraft is not calculated in litres but weight and yes they don't have the kind of visula fuel gauge in a car ..it's very easy to miscalculate your fuel load if you dont measure it against your flight plan and cruise load .

tanks for the analysis.

GamalNasser:


Saw grainy footage somewhere on Instagram captured by someone around there I believe seconds before it fell

Aviation industry need to sit up seriously, the pilots association are aware of the danger airline owners put them through just to save money.

The OP has just explained in his write up that the pilot (may have )miscalculated the weight of fuel it needed to balance its load and flight plan.

Too bad

Thanks OP for this comprehensive analysis. This just proved my long time suspicion that it's always business before safety in our aviation industry.

I've been on airplanes in Nigeria, without a properly functional air-conditioning system. How these things are certified to fly still beats my imagination.

Some of this accident are not ordinary, that is why we need to see a pastor for prayers before embarking on any journey

GamalNasser:


From the footage I saw By the time they were over Opebi the helicopter was already in Auto rotate and deep into its controlled decent ..I wonder why he didn't land in the Lekki area because that's where his flight plan will take him. Through but again these young pilots don't want any incident marked on their log and any AIB debriefing that will happen if you land your helicopter outside your flight plan and then they find out you made the emergency landing because of low fuel scare ..

Thank you sir for your observation. You must be a very experienced pilot.

The history of this pilot indicates that proper due diligence was not carried out by this briefcase airline.

He could not pass line check in Bristow and was fired.

He was also fired from Caverton, he also could not land at night.

He was a co-pilot in all these companies, a First officer.

Someone then gets an AOC, employs this guy without due diligence, makes him a commander without proper command training and expects him not to kill himself. Aviation can be very brutal when it catches up with you.
Nigerians unfortunately are so poorly informed, it’s shocking tbh. Hero indeed.

PS: He also did a very poor autorotation by the way. He missed his aiming point by a long way. He was aiming for the road close to the house and couldn’t stretch his glide.

The winds aloft on the day of the crash were quite strong at least 20kts headwind component which would have escalated any poorly done fuel planning.

Not to prejudice the AIB, but I reckon he kind of killed himself and the other guys.

tutudesz:

Aviation industry need to sit up seriously, the pilots association are aware of the danger airline owners put them through just to save money.

The pilots themselves are supposed to be professionals and are guided by regulations. Business men will be business men. Professionals have to be professionals

Asquare84:
Some of this accident are not ordinary, that is why we need to see a pastor for prayers before embarking on any journey

What about pastors that die from air crashes?.....

Did they not pray? Or they also would need to visit another pastor, to pray for them............

GamalNasser:


From the footage I saw By the time they were over Opebi the helicopter was already in Auto rotate and deep into its controlled decent ..I wonder why he didn't land in the Lekki area because that's where his flight plan will take him. Through but again these young pilots don't want any incident marked on their log and any AIB debriefing that will happen if you land your helicopter outside your flight plan and then they find out you made the emergency landing because of low fuel scare ..

Hmm....... unfortunately,he took a risk that cost him his life.
My question is,is it a hard thing to calculate correctly your fuel needs?

But I read somewhere that the pilot up on realizing there's an issue decided to release/pour out the fuel mid air to ensure there was no fire incident up on crash landing and also deliberately crashed again the fence so as not to cause much damage to lives and property

GamalNasser:


Fuel in an aircraft is not calculated in litres but weight and yes they don't have the kind of visula fuel gauge in a car ..it's very easy to miscalculate your fuel load if you dont measure it against your flight plan and cruise load .

Chairman, na only you one siddon dey blow lie for here, nothing do you. After all na u get your thread. Hehe.

Their fuel gauge might get faulty but it's still 100percent d pilot's job to visually check d fuel before take off.

I paid a couple of millions for a chopper, u telling me it won't have an ordinary fuel gauge...iffa hear. No talk am again o.