While one report said the helicopter had no black box, another media report has revealed that the crashed helicopter was declared non-airworthy three years ago, that was in 2017, by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, when it was discovered that most of the equipment on board have expired.
The AOC, which authorises an operator to carry out specific commercial air transport operations, is issued once the NCAA was satisfied that the operator had the required personnel, assets, and systems to ensure the safety of its employees and general public.
The report however noted that airline operators tricked NCAA into issuing them Air Operators ‘ Certificates.
The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), the investigating body in charge of all aviation-related accidents and incidents in Nigeria said the Bell 206-B3 helicopter that crashed on Salvation Road, Opebi, in the Ikeja area of Lagos State, on Friday, has no black box.
The agency has however continued with its ongoing investigation without the black box.
The black box also known as flight recorders, are one of the most relied upon resources for the improvement of aviation safety. Audio recordings from cockpit voice recorders are valuable for post-accident safety analysis, especially to know what transpired on the aircraft (mostly the pilots’ last conversation) prior to their accidents.
In a statement the investigating agency, enlisted the assistance of the general public to aid its investigation to unravel circumstances which led to the crash.
He said a preliminary report about the crash would soon be made public.
A source told Reporters that some of the operators use same helicopters previously presented by others to obtain AOCs from the NCAA including the ill-fated aircraft.
