How fuel exhaustion, poor crew decision caused Quorum helicopter crash

 

…as AIB releases four other final reports

 

Posted by Sade Williams

 

The Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria (AIB-N), on Thursday, released four final accidents reports and one safety bulletin report at a press briefing in Abuja.

One of the reports is that of the accident involving Quorum Aviation ltd Bell 206B3 helicopter with registration number 5N-BQW which crashed in a residential area at Opebi, Lagos.

According to the report presented by the AIB-N, the causal factor for the crash was ‘fuel exhaustion at low altitude and low speed leading to loss of control in flight.

The contributory factor was the decision of the crew to continue the flight towards the intended destination with insufficient fuel instead of landing as soon as practicable in line with section 12.12 of Quorum Aviation Limited Operations Manual Part A.

Another reason identified by AIB was lack of effective management supervision of the airline’s flight operations and inadequate safety oversight of Quorum Aviation Limited’.

The AIB-N issued three safety recommendations. First it asked the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to ensure that Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders who wish to combine flight duties with multiple post holder positions provide NCAA with comprehensive safety risk mitigation measures to ensure that safe operations can be achieved.

The AIB-N also asked the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to focus its safety oversight to ensure that the Quorum Aviation Limited takes steps to prevent further violation of its approved operating procedures and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations.

The third safety recommendation was that Quorum Aviation Limited should ensure that all its personnel are well acquainted with their respective schedules of responsibilities and capable of discharging their duties effectively in accordance with the company’s Approved Standard Operating Procedures.

The Bureau also released reports on the accident involving Skypower Express Airways Nigeria Limited Air Tractor AT-401B Aircraft with registration 5N-BTV which occurred at Rukubi Village 90 NM South-East of Abuja on the 4^th October 2018;

That of serious incident involving Nigeria Police Airwing Bell 429 Helicopter with registration 5N-MDA which occurred at Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja on the 3rd August,2019.

The serious incident involving Skypower Express Airways Nigeria Limited Cessna 172 Aircraft with registration 5N-APE at Bini Village, Niger State on 19^th November,2019 and the Bulletin-Report on the ground collision involving a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Truck with registration AKD765FK and Nigeria Air Force (NAF) Bell 412 Helicopter with registration NAF 600 which occurred at Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja on 15^th June,2020.