The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has issued statement and ordered all airlines operating the Sikorsky S76 series to carry out a safety inspection on this helicopter type with immediate effect.
This is a sequel to the accident involving Sikorsky helicopter with registration 5B-BJQ owned and operated by Bristow Helicopters Limited on February 3, 2016, which led to the suspension of the aircraft type in the fleet of the company by NCAA.
The helicopter had 11 souls on board, including nine passengers and two crew who were rescued with minor injuries when the pilot in command aborted the flight through controlled ditching and landed in the Lagoon, about 70 nautical miles off Lagos.
The same helicopter type also owned by Bristow was involved in a tragic accident in August last year when the chopper plunged in the Lagos at Oworonshoki area of Lagos, killing six souls out of 12 persons on board.
NCAA said as an interim safety measure, the following safety inspections affects all Sikorsky S76C series helicopters operating in Nigeria and the action required are as follows: visual inspection in accordance with relevant S76C AMM 20-32-00; detailed inspection in accordance with relevant S76C AMM 66-00-00 and detailed inspection in accordance with relevant S76C AMM 66-10-00,66-20-00,66-30-00,66-40-00.
NCAA said this directive was contained in a letter earlier dispatched to all operators of the affected helicopters types in Nigeria, stressing that the safety inspection directive must be complied with within 72 hours on receipt of the letter and repeated after every 300 flight hours until further notice.
“The authority must immediately be provided with evidence of accomplishment of this directive. This action is in addition to the suspension of Bristow Helicopters operations of S-76 C ++ series and the ongoing audit. It is pertinent to point out that this directive is without prejudice to the ongoing investigation by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) which the Authority is fully supporting,” NCAA said in a statement.
NCAA however reiterated that it would not leave any stone unturned to ensure that air transport is safe and secure in Nigeria.
