US Transport Board Explains Why Wigwe’s Helicopter Crashed
The helicopter crash that claimed the life of former Access Holdings CEO Herbert Wigwe, his wife, son, and three others was caused by a combination of pilot error and safety oversight failures, according to a final report by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Released on Wednesday, the report blamed the pilot for continuing under visual flight rules (VFR) despite deteriorating weather that demanded a shift to instrument-based navigation. This decision, the NTSB said, led to spatial disorientation—a condition where a pilot loses awareness of aircraft orientation relative to the earth.
“The probable cause of this accident [was] the pilot’s decision to continue the visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control,” the report concluded.
The February 9, 2024 crash occurred near the California-Nevada border as the helicopter flew in poor visibility, eventually losing control and colliding with the terrain. The victims included Wigwe’s wife Doreen, their son Chizi, and Abimbola Ogunbanjo, former group chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group.
But the pilot’s misjudgment wasn’t the only issue.
The NTSB also criticized the helicopter company for lapses in safety protocols, including ignoring critical maintenance warnings. “The pilot likely experienced spatial disorientation while manoeuvring the helicopter in IMC, which led to his loss of helicopter control and the resulting collision with terrain,” the report said.
One major fault identified was a broken radar altimeter—a vital altitude-reading instrument—which the pilot knew wasn’t functioning before takeoff. “The pilot and the DOM [director of maintenance] were aware that the radar altimeter was not functioning,” the report stated, yet the flight went ahead without discussing the equipment issue or the worsening weather.
