Crashed Helicopter That Killed Wigwe, Others Caught Fire On Impact With Terrain, Full Probe Report Could Take 24 Months –US Agency, NTSB

The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has revealed that the helicopter in which Herbert Wigwe was travelling caught fire after it crashed.

A board member, Michael Graham, who disclosed this during a media briefing on the ill-fated helicopter crash on Sunday, confirmed that six persons, including two crew members, died in the crash.

SaharaReporters reported on Saturday that the Co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe; his wife, Chizoba, son, Chizi and Bimbo Ogunbanjo, a former chairman of the NGX died in the helicopter crash, which occurred on Friday night in the United States.

They were going from Palm Springs Airport to Boulder City, Nevada when the accident occurred.

Briefing reporters, Graham said that the tragic incident occurred about 90 minutes after the charter flight took off, adding that “the helicopter impacted the terrain south of I-15 near Halloran Springs, California,” about 75 miles (120 kilometres) northeast of the city of Barstow.

Although the NTSB board member said that the ongoing investigation would reveal the cause of the crash, he added, “As far as we know…there was fire when the aircraft did contact the terrain.”

He explained that witnesses said there “was rain with wintry mix” when the accident occurred.

Graham, however, warned that investigators were still working on determining the exact weather at the time of the crash.

“This is the beginning of a long process. We will not jump to any conclusions,” Graham said.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) posted on its website, without naming the victims that “a Eurocopter EC 130 helicopter crashed near Nipton, California, around 10 pm local time on Friday, Feb. 9. Six people were on board.”

Graham warned that it could take 12 to 24 months for the full report on the investigation to be ready.