Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, announced on Friday that divers are still working to recover bodies and wreckage from Thursday’s helicopter crash near Port Harcourt.
The Sikorsky SK76c helicopter, registered as 5N-BQG and operated by East Wind Aviation, lost contact while flying from Port Harcourt to the NNPC Limited’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Antan oil facility. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) confirmed eight people were on board, with three bodies recovered so far.
In a statement posted to his official X page, Minister Keyamo provided an update: “Divers deployed to the scene of the helicopter crash near Bonny Finima, off the coast of Calabar, are still working to find the remaining bodies and wreckage,” he said. The ministry expects to release a more comprehensive statement once further progress is made.
This update follows Thursday’s announcement by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), which began investigating the crash. According to the NSIB Director of Public Affairs, Wunmi Oladeji, the helicopter lost contact with air traffic controllers around 10:52 a.m. during a routine flight, approximately 30 minutes before it was reported down near Bonny Finima at 11:22 a.m. The helicopter, flying under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), did not transmit an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) signal, delaying rescue operations.
The NSIB urged the public to refrain from speculation, emphasizing its commitment to transparency and accountability in the investigation.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu, Petroleum Resources Minister of State Heineken Lokpobiri, and others have expressed condolences to the families affected by this tragic incident.
