The Sikorsky SK76c helicopter, registered as 5N-BQG, that recently crashed near Port Harcourt in Rivers State, was reportedly scrapped in 2018.
The helicopter, owned by EastWind Aviation, was transporting contract workers to the FPSO NUIMS ANTAN facility when it nosedived into the Atlantic Ocean.
The unfortunate incident occurred off the coast of Bonny Finima on Thursday, October 24, 2024.
The helicopter with the manufacturer’s serial number (MSN) 760486 was manufactured in 1997.
Checks according to SaharaReporters revealed that the helicopter was first delivered to Helikopter Service as SE-JFB. It was then bought by another aviation company in Hong Kong and registered as B-KCR.
In 2004, the helicopter was bought by a Nigerian airline, Aero Contractors and registered as 5N-BGN.
In 2009, CHC Global Ops in Canada bought the chopper from Aero Contractors, registering it as C-FXXV. It was outsourced to Premiair, an aviation services and aircraft management operator based in Indonesia between June 2011 and July 2013.
The helicopter was then taken back by CHC Global Ops, a Canadian aviation company, maintaining the same registration number, C-FXXV.
According to Flickr, an online community founded in Canada, the chopper registration number was cancelled in September 2018 after it was “presumably scrapped.”
Scrapped helicopters refer to aircraft that have been permanently retired from service and deemed unusable.
These choppers are no longer operational due to various factors, including age and obsolescence, excessive maintenance costs, loss or revocation of Type Certificate, unavailability of spare parts, damage from accidents, transportation, or maintenance incidents and weather-related damage or vandalism.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), on Sunday, said one more body has been recovered following the sad crash on Thursday.
This brings the total bodies recovered so far to four while four are still missing.
NSIB announced the latest discovery as efforts persist to retrieve the remaining victims and wreckage.
The chopper, carrying eight people, crashed off the coast of Bonny Finima in the Atlantic Ocean.
A statement by the NSIB Director, Public Affairs and Family Assistance, Mrs Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji, said that at around 4pm, a floating body was retrieved from the water by the FRC and was escorted by the Cameroonian Navy to NUIMS Antan, for safe transit through their territorial waters.
“Field operations identified the body by confirming the T-shirt worn matched the description provided.
“Although it took time, photographic evidence confirmed the identity as the fourth victim,” the statement said.