thecommunist:
I hope you know that you are not the only aviation person in and around here, so don't expect us to take your analysis in just like that. We have functioning brains and Google as well.

He is very wrong and full of misinformation in his write-up, Bell of that model never comes or equipped with Black Box and the capability to dump feul.

Look bros that is exactly what happened

MASTAkiLLAh:
you didn’t even read your own article sir

ikorodureporta:
no license, no black box, no fuel.. this na suicide mission.

I wonder why he didn't look for a good place to land instead of that compound's fence

If you believe this, then you dont know about Aircrash investigations.

Most air crash investigations end up with the conclusion that it is "pilots error".
Which is not always the case.
However, it is the (dead) pilot vs big corporates, big companies, the media, government agencies, etc.
You think if he had no valid license he would be flying a helicopter that transported foriegners? Taking pictures and posting them on social media? Etc?
This is a big lie. My PhD was focused on aircraft data-driven maintenance. I know an easy lie when I see one.
NCAA are idiots. And they think every Nigerian is foolish to fall for their tricks.
"Pilot error" blame basically forcloses the thought of paying compensation which NCAA, the helicopter company and their insurance companies want to run away from.

He had a valid license. But there has to be a fall guy. It damn well isnt going to be the big corps.

ShinnBet:


That should tell you they don't know jack.

Where did the fuel disappear to?

The pilot was on schedule as there was no time delay .

He obviously jettisoned his fuel in anticipation of a crash

Apart from what panifid has explained, are you saying a malfunction in the aircraft cannot lead to sudden unintended drainage from the fuel tanks? Are you saying there could not have been errors in fuel load calculation before the trip?

ShinnBet please shut it with your misinformation and just stop replying comments.

You might have it wrong here bro.
Questions to ask include:
1. Does the AC have the provision to jettison fuel? NO, so this fuels more questions into the direction of "how the fuel tanks were empty on impact" There was no fire, no explosion, no soot to show carbon burn, nothing like that. The pilot might have planned for a 2hrs + flight, but probably headwind and other factors we might not know stretched his flight time into the enduranceperiod (he might have been carried away too, or tried to see how he could stretch it to the Lagos Airport without raising a dust but couldn't meet up. Remember, global aviation regulations require you to land with at least 30mins of fuel left.

2. Does a BELL 206 have a blackbox installed? NO So this doesn't align with the talk of the blackbox was stolen in anyway.

3. Did the AC go into a spin? Obviously not! The Aircraft came straight down (from eyewitness account) and this could be seen from the wreck. A spinning AC crashing would have a larger disperse area of crash debris. Moreover, a loss of engine power doesn't have to equate to a fatal crash. As helicopter pilots, one training you must pass through before even getting your license is loss of engine power. Every heli pilot knows how important it is to get their Autorotaion right. Loss of engine power due to no fuel, he could have entered into an autorotation but probably didn't get it right and his Main rotor speed went in to the red. This might also fan the talks of "the pilot knew he had low fuel but tried to push it to its limit to land at the airport.

4. Was the pilot qualified to fly? Yes & No... Yes because he has the experience and license to fly that aircraft, No because his yearly medicals Expired on August 6. NCAA gave a directive to allow for medicals extension for pilots since we couldn't carry out our license renewal due to the covid-19 pandemic. This brings us to the question on who is right? Quorum who says they applied for an extension or NCAA who says they never got an application for extension.

Lastly, question 5. What of the recordings between the pilot and the ATC. This, in addition to the ATC monito history, is the only concrete way to understand what transpired in the last moments of the ill-fated Bell 206B flight.

It was a painful loss to the aviation community.

ShinnBet:


Don't mind these idiots.

The black box was removed from the crash site by the operators.

This is not the first time that has happened.

The pilot I suspect must have dumped his fuel in anticipation of a crash in an urban area. No pilot will fly with inadequate fuel and if it so happens to be so, would have made an emergency landing in an open area.

Thirdly, the AIB coming out with this statement of the pilot not having a valid liscence is following the earlier NCAA's very unprofessional utterance long before AIB came out with their prelimunary report, that the helicopter in question was not approved for flight operations by them.

Then how come an aircraft that was not approved for operations was being operated within Nigerian airspace by an unqualified Pilot?

These NCAA idiots don't know they are even indicting themselves for failing to do their job.

This is not the first time the useless NCAA has been in the eye of the storm. This same NCAA came out to tell us that the black box for Bellview Airliner that mysteriously crashed somewhere around Ibadan airspace in 2005 was stolen from their office in Lagos.

I have met and interacted with several of these NCAA badged agents and I can tell you 90% of them have no businesss working in aviation talk more of being regulators.

As for AIB, does ones do not have a single clue.

My opinion of the timeline of events is as follows:.

1. Pilot notices a major fault

2. Pilot contacts Ikeja ATC notifying them of an emergency

3. Pilot dumps fuel in anticipation of a forced landing in an urban area

4. Pilot must have lost engine power or rudder control or both

5. Chopper can't be controlled by pilot and goes into a spin (highlighting loss od rudder control)

6. Chopper crashes

7. Onlookers swarm the site

8. Police do nothing to secure the crash site.

9. Airline representatives visit site and ecuavate black box

10. AIB cones in and as clueless as they are come out with their useless conclusion

P S.

Worked as an Avionics Engineer with the USMC for 5yrs.

ShinnBet:


Not true.

No civilian pilot will carry out a flight without the minimum amount of fuel neither for the operation plus the mandatory reserves.

Oga if you read the thread I created then to prove it was ran out of fuel you will will see explained all the reasons .. The bell 206 he was flying has a maximum range of 693 kms and the distance of from PH to Abuja using the coastline is about 630 kms ..Just he just had very little margins for fuel consumption variables ..If he ran into coastal winds stronger than usual he will burn more fuel, if he had climb higher than planned he will burn more fuel ..If he carried any unplanned passenger or baggage he will burn more fuel ...If he was alone in that helicopter he would have made it back to base because he was just two minutes away from his LZ.

The Bell 206 is not designed to even flay that long , with a max range of 693 km ,he shouldn't have flown that helicopter beyond 500 kms no matter what

ShinnBet:


Don't mind these idiots.

The black box was removed from the crash site by the operators.

This is not the first time that has happened.

The pilot I suspect must have dumped his fuel in anticipation of a crash in an urban area. No pilot will fly with inadequate fuel and if it so happens to be so, would have made an emergency landing in an open area.

Thirdly, the AIB coming out with this statement of the pilot not having a valid liscence is following the earlier NCAA's very unprofessional utterance long before AIB came out with their prelimunary report, that the helicopter in question was not approved for flight operations by them.

Then how come an aircraft that was not approved for operations was being operated within Nigerian airspace by an unqualified Pilot?

These NCAA idiots don't know they are even indicting themselves for failing to do their job.

This is not the first time the useless NCAA has been in the eye of the storm. This same NCAA came out to tell us that the black box for Bellview Airliner that mysteriously crashed somewhere around Ibadan airspace in 2005 was stolen from their office in Lagos.

I have met and interacted with several of these NCAA badged agents and I can tell you 90% of them have no businesss working in aviation talk more of being regulators.

As for AIB, does ones do not have a single clue.

My opinion of the timeline of events is as follows:.

1. Pilot notices a major fault

2. Pilot contacts Ikeja ATC notifying them of an emergency

3. Pilot dumps fuel in anticipation of a forced landing in an urban area

4. Pilot must have lost engine power or rudder control or both

5. Chopper can't be controlled by pilot and goes into a spin (highlighting loss od rudder control)

6. Chopper crashes

7. Onlookers swarm the site

8. Police do nothing to secure the crash site.

9. Airline representatives visit site and ecuavate black box

10. AIB cones in and as clueless as they are come out with their useless conclusion

P S.

Worked as an Avionics Engineer with the USMC for 5yrs.

Bell 206 cannot dump fuel !!!! It's doesn't have that capability ..the pilot ran out of fuel ..!!!!!!

BestTruth101:
Thanks for the insights sir

That was no insight please ...The Helicopter ran out of fuel

ShinnBet:


Don't mind these idiots.

The black box was removed from the crash site by the operators.

This is not the first time that has happened.

The pilot I suspect must have dumped his fuel in anticipation of a crash in an urban area. No pilot will fly with inadequate fuel and if it so happens to be so, would have made an emergency landing in an open area.

Thirdly, the AIB coming out with this statement of the pilot not having a valid liscence is following the earlier NCAA's very unprofessional utterance long before AIB came out with their prelimunary report, that the helicopter in question was not approved for flight operations by them.

Then how come an aircraft that was not approved for operations was being operated within Nigerian airspace by an unqualified Pilot?

These NCAA idiots don't know they are even indicting themselves for failing to do their job.

This is not the first time the useless NCAA has been in the eye of the storm. This same NCAA came out to tell us that the black box for Bellview Airliner that mysteriously crashed somewhere around Ibadan airspace in 2005 was stolen from their office in Lagos.

I have met and interacted with several of these NCAA badged agents and I can tell you 90% of them have no businesss working in aviation talk more of being regulators.

As for AIB, does ones do not have a single clue.

My opinion of the timeline of events is as follows:.

1. Pilot notices a major fault

2. Pilot contacts Ikeja ATC notifying them of an emergency

3. Pilot dumps fuel in anticipation of a forced landing in an urban area

4. Pilot must have lost engine power or rudder control or both

5. Chopper can't be controlled by pilot and goes into a spin (highlighting loss od rudder control)

6. Chopper crashes

7. Onlookers swarm the site

8. Police do nothing to secure the crash site.

9. Airline representatives visit site and ecuavate black box

10. AIB cones in and as clueless as they are come out with their useless conclusion

P S.

Worked as an Avionics Engineer with the USMC for 5yrs.

Thank you for your submission.

you are obviously a subject matter expert.

It is refreshing to read from some one with a sound mind.

...BUT there are many small helicopters that do not have a provision for a black box, in fact, they are not required to have a black box (a.ka. CVR & FDR) to operate. As for fuel dumping... let's not even make that a topic. Simple and short... not all aircrafts have the option to jettison fuel mid air... It is not and has never been a requirement for flight in any country! Let's not be too petty.

ShinnBet:


And the same NCAA approved the liscence for a civil helicopter without a black box and fuel dump capacity when it operates within heavily populated areas?

Use brain .

As I said earlier, the fact that NCAA came out with an announcement on the aircraft status immediately after the crash when it is only AIB that is vested with any pronouncements should tell you those idiots in. NCAA do not know what they are doing

At any given time NCAA is supposed to know all aircrafts that are operating within our airspace.

You can't even get ATC clearance without NCAA notifying NAMA .

For NCAA to come out with such statement is an admission on their own part that they failed as regulators.

That is what you people will say ever since before now you don't know that there is no valid I.d yeye people

solmus:




When they argue back and forth they are trying to dodge payment of compensation to victims

Who stole the Blackbox from the site of crash

.

I doubt that model of helicopter comes with a black box ..it was a 1989 Bell 206

Agreed, this is the ideal situation but what if the crew decided not to take on full fuel load? May be due to lack of funds to cover full fuel load and instead decided to take on anticipated load?

Like for example a car driver may estimate fuel load from Abuja to Lagos to be 100Ltr instead of the car full capacity of 150Ltr and unfortunately the 100Ltr failed to last the trip?

Also, is it possible that the pilot made other flight detour which led to fuel load exhausted quickly?

AIB claimed this particular aircraft has no way of ditching fuel mid-air.. is it not possible that that feature may have been tampered with before. There were aims the aircraft was not airworthy... Who knows.

Thanks for the well articulated explanations very apt!

ShinnBet:


Not true.

No civilian pilot will carry out a flight without the minimum amount of fuel neither for the operation plus the mandatory reserves.

sugah:

I only asked you a question...musta hit a nerve.
You can also use the Internet for information gathering like most sensible people do or believe crap random people spew on here.

I don't respond to frustrated people, there's no reason for you to come to a forum like this to broadcast your hatred for humanity, go take a nap.

Not having a valid license is not a cause of accidents. It is not also the same thing as not being licensed to fly. Flying requires knowledge on flying and if the pilot is well trained to fly, having a valid license is just administrative especially if s/he is used to fly a particular aircraft

FarahAideed:


I doubt that model of helicopter comes with a black box ..it was a 1989 Bell 206

Flight data recorder / cockpit voice recorder... Even analogue ones, are far older many decades than 1989

ikorodureporta:
no license, no black box, no fuel.. this na suicide mission.

I wonder why he didn't look for a good place to land instead of that compound's fence

He didn’t land in the compound. He fell into the compound. Engine wasn’t running.

The pilot made a very basic error as captured in this quote : " “The helicopter has an endurance of 3:24h. The operational flight plan filed by the pilot indicated an endurance of 3:15h and an estimated flight time of 2:45h."

For the pilot to have filed a flight time that only fuel burn margin of THIRTY MINUTES, means that the pilot left virtually no extra fuel at all, because any headwind encountered on that flight would have consumed far more than 8 minutes worth of fuel, making a crash highly likely even in the best of circumstances.

It is the height of irresponsibility to allow an un-licensed individual to take the controls of any aircraft, and the airline that did so with these tragic results, is likely to be sued of of business, by families of the crash victims.

solmus:


Flight data recorder / cockpit voice recorder... Even analogue ones, are far older many decades than 1989

Oga it's not mandatory for Helicopters to have Black boxes especially small helicopters like this one ..even the giant Sikorsky 76 Kobe died in didn't have a black box ...Oga this is my field so don't argue abeg

AntiWailer:


Thank you for your submission.

you are obviously a subject matter expert.

It is refreshing to read from some one with a sound mind.

Subject matter expert . .. he said 100 percent Nonsense .. Nigerians cant tell right from wrong oo. subject matter expert ? indon laugh taya ..Brother that guy's wrote nonsene
.

Jakumo:
The pilot made a very basic error as captured in this quote : " “The helicopter has an endurance of 3:24h. The operational flight plan filed by the pilot indicated an endurance of 3:15h and an estimated flight time of 2:45h."

For the pilot to have filed a flight time that only fuel burn margin of THIRTY MINUTES, means that the pilot left virtually no extra fuel at all, because any headwind encountered on that flight would have consumed far more than 8 minutes worth of fuel, making a crash highly likely even in the best of circumstances.

It is the height of irresponsibility to allow an un-licensed individual to take the controls of any aircraft, and the airline that did so with these tragic results, is likely to be sued of of business, by families of the crash victims.

At last somebody that's gets it

vicysegun:
Look bros that is exactly what happened

you didn’t read it too

An experienced pilot shld force land if he knows he is low on fuel,why he insists on making it to his destination b/C it works for him b4 beat ma imagination.

FarahAideed:
I have been vindicated once more when I said the Helicopter ran out of fuel from the onset and even opened a thread explaining my position.

P.S

For those arguing the Helicopter couldn't have ran out of fuel I will breakdown why the helicoot ran out of fuel so you can learn .

First an foremost the Bell 206 cannot dump fuel because it doesn't have the ability to ...not every aircraft can dump fuel , even your popular Boeing 737 has the ability to dump fuel . Most civilian helicopters don't have that ability ..

To know why he ran out of fuel you will first have to know a little about the helicopter he was flying . The helicopter in question is a small helicopter called a bell 206 and the model he was flying was the single rotor, single turbine version and this version has a Maximum range of just 693 kms with full tank and carry 3 average sized passengers and the distance from Portharcourt to Lagos using his flight plan was about 623 Km so you see he had a very small margin of error for his fuel consumption variables ..any small adjustments to to his power demands during the flights would have left his fuel tanks stranded ..

He should never have flown the Bell 206 beyond 500km before his next refuel and even the Helicopter manufacturers suggest such ...From record it suggest he has been getting away with that margin for a while and go used to risking it ... If he had just even one passenger less he would have made it to his destination which was just about 2 minutes away from where he crashed .

why he no refuel midair How I wished nah Sai Barbar and Tinubu he was carrying

Jakumo:
The pilot made a very basic error as captured in this quote : " “The helicopter has an endurance of 3:24h. The operational flight plan filed by the pilot indicated an endurance of 3:15h and an estimated flight time of 2:45h."

For the pilot to have filed a flight time that only fuel burn margin of THIRTY MINUTES, means that the pilot left virtually no extra fuel at all, because any headwind encountered on that flight would have consumed far more than 8 minutes worth of fuel, making a crash highly likely even in the best of circumstances.

It is the height of irresponsibility to allow an un-licensed individual to take the controls of any aircraft, and the airline that did so with these tragic results, is likely to be sued of of business, by families of the crash victims.

An unfortunate incident...
However, he was licensed to fly the aircraft.
His licence isn't valid because of coronavirus travel restrictions not allowing crew member go for their 6monthly simulator check..the NCAA isn't processing medical/licence renewal, only extending validity on already expired licences

You sef wicked! You should have left him feeling enlightened naa... lol
The subject matter expert talk weak me... lol

FarahAideed:


Subject matter expert . .. he said 100 percent Nonsense .. Nigerians cant tell right from wrong oo. subject matter expert ? indon laugh taya ..Brother that guy's wrote nonsene
.

Well, legally, the flight plan he filed was perfectly in check.. he had 30 mins of fuel left and that is what is required in aviation. The problem, I think, comes from the fact that they had burnt 30 mins of fuel already (10mins on ground, 20 mins test flight). Could this be a miscalculation that caused the issue?

Jakumo:
The pilot made a very basic error as captured in this quote : " “The helicopter has an endurance of 3:24h. The operational flight plan filed by the pilot indicated an endurance of 3:15h and an estimated flight time of 2:45h."

For the pilot to have filed a flight time that only fuel burn margin of THIRTY MINUTES, means that the pilot left virtually no extra fuel at all, because any headwind encountered on that flight would have consumed far more than 8 minutes worth of fuel, making a crash highly likely even in the best of circumstances.

It is the height of irresponsibility to allow an un-licensed individual to take the controls of any aircraft, and the airline that did so with these tragic results, is likely to be sued of of business, by families of the crash victims.

Flying airplanes and corruption (fake papers even within the premises or by legitimate officials), short changing (collecting money for gas but pumping little) do not go together

panifid:


Add up the minutes, do the math:

...."was filled the preceding day had 10 minutes of engine run and 20 minutes of test flight is on it same day in Port Harcourt.
“The helicopter has an endurance of 3:24h. The operational flight plan filed by the pilot indicated an endurance of 3:15h and an estimated flight time of 2:45h. The helicopter engine was started at 09:15h. The helicopter took off at 09:20h.The helicopter crashed at 12:14h."

Helicopter was started at 09:15h , crashed at 12:14h.

Difference of 02:59h.

Add this to the 10 mins of engine run and 20 mins of test flight.

That gives us 03:29h.

Endurance capacity of helicopter 03:24h

The helicopter was out of fuel. Q.E.D.

Thumbs up man. The other guy is just talking without facts. He cannot provide a proof that this copter has the capacity to dump fuel, AIB said it didn't but the guy is hammering NCCA constantly. I believe the pilot simply run out of fuel

Reference:


Totally agree. Happens once a while. Miscalculation, faulty guages, corner cutting, many things happen. The chartered flight that crashed in Brazil carrying the Chapecoense team a few years ago had the same issue, corner cutting in not carrying the mandatory fuel reserves...

When an aircraft goes down and breaks apart completely without igniting a fire, it is most likely the tanks are empty.

I also agree with him.

AIB said the aircraft has an endurance of.3.24h and the pilot filed 3.15h.

The aircraft was fueled a day prior which means he has either 3.24h or 3.15h of flight.

On flight day, the engine was ran for 10mins and subsequently flown 20mins for a test.

The aircraft engine was started at 9.15, took off at 9.20 and crash 12.14. That is 2.54hrs of flight.

That brings the total to 15mins of engine running and 3.14hrs of flight. Add 15mins of engine running, 3.29hrs which is above the endurance of the aircraft. Any miscalculation or extra load meant that the flight was doomed and the pilot took a big risk.

The crash itself gave evidence to this theory, there was supposed to be fire fueled by the fuel but there was none.