The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) yesterday, said that it had not yet determined the cause of the Bristow helicopter crash which occurred in Lagoon on Aug.12.
AIB’s Commissioner, Mr Felix Abali, revealed this while presenting the bureau’s preliminary report to newsmen in Lagos.
According to Abali, preliminary findings by the bureau’s investigators revealed that the “pushrod assembly of the chopper became disjointed and could not hold together’’ and this could cause a loss of main rotor or tail rotor flight control and consequent loss of control.
He, however, said it was too early to speculate on the actual cause of the crash as further investigation was still ongoing.
Findings of download carried out in the United Kingdom on the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, recovered from the crashed chopper were still being put together as the Abuja laboratory of the AIB couldn't download them because the models were outdated, he revealed.
The bureau has been working with Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, the manufacturers of the aircraft, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration officials to establish probable cause of the accident.
The bureau has therefore directed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to immediately carryout appropriate oversight action on all the Sikorsky S-76 series helicopters flying in Nigeria.
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