The 27-year-old helicopter that crashed in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was reportedly scrapped and deregistered by a Canadian company in 2018.
According to SaharaReporters’ findings, a Sikorsky SK76c aircraft registered 5N-BQG that just crashed near Port Harcourt in Rivers State was scrapped in 2018.
The aircraft, owned by EastWind Aviation, was bringing contract workers to the FPSO-NUIMS ANTAN complex when it crashed into the Atlantic.
The catastrophe took place on Thursday, October 24, 2024, off the coast of Bonny Finima.
The helicopter with the manufacturer’s serial number (MSN) 760486 was constructed in 1997.
According to SaharaReporters, the helicopter was originally handed to Helikopter Service under the registration SE-JFB. It was then acquired by another Hong Kong-based aviation company and registered as B-KCR.
In 2004, the helicopter was purchased by Aero Contractors, a Nigerian airline, and registered as 5N-BGN.
In 2009, CHC Global Ops in Canada purchased the helicopter from Aero Contractors and registered it as C-FXXV. From June 2011 to July 2013, it was outsourced to Premiair, an Indonesian aviation services and aircraft management company.
The helicopter was later returned to CHC Global Ops, a Canadian aviation business, with the same registration number, C-FXXV.
According to Flickr, a Canadian-founded internet community, the chopper registration number was deleted in September 2018 after it was “presumably scrapped.”
Scrapped helicopters are aircraft that have been permanently removed from service and judged useless.
They are not expected to return to service and are usually sold for salvage or dismantled for parts.
SaharaReporters were unable to verify how the Sikorsky SK76c aircraft was transferred to Nigeria and registered as 5N-BQG prior to its crash on Thursday.
On Sunday, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, confirmed the recovery of another body from last Thursday’s helicopter crash in the Atlantic Ocean.
This announcement came barely seven hours after the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau debunked earlier reports claiming that two bodies had been found.
In a statement on his X account, Keyamo revealed that the NSIB notified him on Sunday of the recovery of one more lifeless body, identified as a victim of the Eastwind Aviation helicopter crash.
“An additional body was confirmed by matching the T-shirt worn to the description provided. Although it took time, photographic evidence confirmed the identity as the fourth victim,” Keyamo said.
