The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority NCAA has affirmed that the information published by Sahara reporters on the status and identity of the recently crashed helicopter operated by East Wing Airline limited, was wrong.
It insisted that the media outfit could not clearly differentiate the records of the recently crashed EASTWIND AVIATION LOGISTICS SERVICES LIMITED S76C+ Helicopter with registration mark 5N-BQG and MSN: 760486 and the AERO CONTRACTORS DE-REGISTERED S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BGN and MSN: 760468.
To put the record straight, the Acting Director General of NCAA, Capt Chris Najomo, in a statement, gave the registration marks and the manufacturer serial number of the of crashed chopper as 5N-BQG and MSN: 760486 and not 5N-BGN and MSN: 760468 reported by media house.
While the media outfit alleged that the ill-fated chopper was once registered, deregistered in Nigeria but later found its way back into Nigeria, the NCAA insisted that the ill-fated chopper experienced change of ownership and was airworthy and operational prior to the crash.
“The attention of the Authority has been brought to a report by the Sahara reporters on the airworthiness status of the recently crashed helicopter with registration marks 5N-BQG prior to the crash.
“In their report, it was stated that the aircraft was initially registered in the year 2004 as 5N-BGN with Aero Contractors after which it was deregistered to Canada in the year 2009. The report then went on to state that the aircraft registration was cancelled in September 2018 after it was “presumably scrapped”.
Their report was concluded with a question of how the Helicopter was moved to Nigeria and registered as 5N-BQG before the crash.”
To correct the wrong information contained in the media report, NCAA stated as follows: “Based on our records, the following items are stated hereto correct the wrong information published by the Sahara reporters on the subject matter:
“It is important to state that aircraft can be tracked not only by their registration marks but also by their Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN).
“The 5N-BQG S76C+ Helicopter has its MSN as 760486 while the 5N-BGN S76C+ Helicopter has its MSN as 760468.
The S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BGN and MSN: 760468 was initially registered at the age of 7 Years on the July 15, 2004 with Aero Contractors as the operator and Capital Aviation Services B.V. as the registered owner. The registration was re-issued on the December 13, 2006 when the ownership of the helicopter changed to RBS Aerospace Limited.
“The S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BGN and MSN:
760468 was de-registered by Aero Contractors on February 18, 2009
to Transport Canada.”
Meanwhile, the CAA continued, “The crashed chopper, S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BQG and MSN: 760486 was initially registered at the age of 14 Years on the December 10, 2012 with Nestoil Plc as the registered operator and owner. The registration was re-issued on July 13, 2021 as a result of change of operator to OMNI-BLU Aviation LTD. and Ownership change to DANBA Associates LIMITED. A further amendment of the registration was done on May 30, 2022 when the ownership changed to EASTWIND AVIATION LOGISTICS SERVICES LIMITED while maintaining OMNI-BLU as the operator.
The final amendment to the registration was on February 27, 2024 when the operator of the S76C+ Helicopter with registration marks 5N-BQG and MSN: 760486 was changed to EASTWIND AVIATION LOGISTICS SERVICES LIMITED. By this action, EASTWIND AVIATION LOGISTICS SERVICES LIMITED became the registered operator and owner of the helicopter.”
The CAA therefore insisted that based on the above data from its records, it is clear that Sahara Reporters could not clearly differentiate the records of the recently crashed chopper and the de-registered chopper of Aero Contractors which had been taken out of the country to Canada.
