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The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has refuted allegations surrounding the airworthiness of a helicopter that crashed in Port Harcourt last Friday, October 25.
The NCAA called recent reports by an online outlet, Sahara Reporters, “misleading,” clarifying that the helicopter had a valid airworthiness certificate and had not been scrapped.
In a statement, Acting Director-General Captain Chris Najomo expressed the NCAA’s concerns, stating, “The attention of the Authority has been brought to a report by Sahara Reporters on the airworthiness status of the recently crashed helicopter with registration marks 5N-BQG prior to the crash.”
He emphasised that the helicopter, owned by EASTWIND Aviation Logistics Services Limited, was fully certified.
Najomo explained that the confusion may have stemmed from Sahara Reporters’ apparent conflation of two different aircraft records.
According to Najomo, while the helicopter that crashed had registration 5N-BQG and Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN) 760486, another helicopter with a similar model had a different registration history.
The latter aircraft, registered as 5N-BGN with Aero Contractors, was deregistered in 2009 and relocated to Canada.
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“It is important to state that aircraft can be tracked not only by their registration marks but also by their Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN),” he noted.
Najomo’s statement also detailed the operational history of the helicopter with registration 5N-BQG, initially registered in 2012 and last transferred to EASTWIND Aviation Logistics Services Limited in February 2024.
He reiterated that Sahara Reporters’ claim was based on incorrect information, adding, “Sahara Reporters could not clearly differentiate the records of the recently crashed helicopter with MSN 760486 and the Aero Contractors’ de-registered aircraft with MSN 760468.”