As part of steps being taken at reassuring its clients and other stakeholders of its continuous commitment to safety, the President and CEO of Bristow Group Inc., Jonathan Baliff and Chief Operating Officer, Jeremy Akel, joined several members of the Nigerian senior management team, including Vice President of Operations Mike Imlach, to meet with clients, partners and government officials to reiterate the company’s commitment to safety and to share the most recent developments following the precautionary water landing offshore Lagos on February 3, 2016.
The team also met with employees at Port Harcourt and Lagos to reinforce Bristow’s commitment to Nigeria and to thank employees for their continued commitment to safety and their unwavering dedication to the operations in general.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has performed a post incident audit of Bristow’s operations in Nigeria and has authorized Bristow to start test flights of the S-76 fleet.
Following the successful conclusion of the test flights and to further demonstrate the safety of the S-76 fleet and Bristow’s operations, Bristow applied to the NCAA and approval was granted for a non-revenue flight of its Sikorsky S-76C aircraft with registration number 5N-BIL to convey the President and CEO, Jonathan Baliff to Bristow bases in Nigeria.
“My recent visit with our team members in Nigeria was outstanding in so many ways,” said Baliff. “The team truly represents Bristow’s Core Values, especially our number one Core Value which is Safety in everything we do and say. I saw this first hand as I flew in the S-76 on February 26. I have also met with clients who reiterated their commitment to Bristow, as well as government officials who are very appreciative of what Bristow has done over the years in Nigeria”, he said.
Jonathan reiterated that the company is working closely with the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) in its investigation to determine the cause, and cited the ongoing work with Sikorsky related to Bristow’s comprehensive return to service process as well as getting the S-76 fleet back into operation.
Bristow said it remains confident in the Sikorsky S-76 fleet.
The company is engaging an independent third party to conduct an additional review of Bristow’s operations in Nigeria, with the expectation that such initiative will also extend to include the review of other similar entities across the Nigerian oil and gas industry so that best practices can be shared laterally across all operators to further enhance safety.
By:Sade Williams
