Herbert Wigwe: Helicopter crash caused by company’s poor safety culture – NSIB

Nigeria Safety and Investigation Bureau, NSIB, has attributed the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of former Access Holdings CEO, Herbert Wigwe; his wife, Doreen; their son, Chizi; and former NGX Group Chairman, Abimbola Ogunbanjo, to lapses in the helicopter company’s safety management systems.

Director General of NSIB, Captain Alex Badeh Jr., who referenced the findings of the United States National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, said the crash suggested systemic issues within the company’s safety culture, rather than pilot error.

On February 9, 2024, an Airbus EC130B4 operated by Orbic Air, LLC, carrying Wigwe, Doreen, Chizi and Ogunbanjo crashed near Halloran Springs, California.

In the final investigation released by the NTSB recently, it was stated that pilot disorientation, company’s negligence and a violation of flight protocols, especially the decision to proceed under visual flight rules in instrument meteorological conditions, were key causes of the crash.

Speaking on Newsnight, an Arise TV programme, Badeh said: “You could go deeper and wonder what happened because it is more a company culture. I would not blame the pilot, they (the report) spoke about the company’s safety management systems. It seems more like a company culture than anything.”

Asked whether it was not negligence, he said: “I would hesitate to use the word negligence. I am aware they are in court now, so I do not want my words to come back and bite me later. From the report, which says the company was indicted for safety management systems, except they should have looked deeper into this.

“The pilot should have spoken to his flight follower who happened to be the president of the company and he should have looked deeper into it and said, ‘Maybe we should delay or we should do this or that.”

Asked who makes the final call in such situations, he said: “It is the pilot but it is always easy to blame the pilot whereas there is a system behind that pilot. There is a whole system that should have caught this and even if he did not catch it, you do not know what sort of pressure that was on him. This was a high-profile person. They knew he was a high-profile person. They know people who go for the Super Bowl are wealthy people. Everywhere, even in the United States, there is always that pressure.”