A S76 C++ helicopter marked 5N-BQJ belonging to Bristow Helicopters, which departed ERHA Platform en-route Lagos, ditched into the Atlantic Ocean 95 nautical miles into destination at about 10:20am local time.
According to Tunji Oketunbi, spokesman for Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), all the eleven souls on board including two crew members were rescued alive.
He said the AIB has commenced investigation into the occurrence.
Meanwhile, Bristow Helicopters (Nigeria) Limited, through Tunji Olugbodi, in a statement, confirmed today that one of its helicopters, was involved in a water landing near Lagos at about 10.25 a.m. local time on return from an offshore platform.
The aircraft, a Sikorsky S-76C++, had departed on a routine crew transfer flight offshore with nine passengers and a crew of two.
“All persons onboard are accounted for and in the process of being transferred to a nearby installation. The company is in the process of collecting pertinent information and will release more details as soon as it is available”, he said.
It would be recalled that in August 12, 2015, A Bristow Sikorsky S-76 helicopter with registration number 5N-BDG-760540, crashed in the lagoon bordering Oworonsoki, a suburb in Lagos, with 12 persons on board.
The helicopter crash resulted in the death of four people.
Bristow Helicopters (Nigeria) Limited provides aviation services to the offshore energy industry, serving major integrated offshore energy companies in Africa’s oil and gas industry.
With headquarters located in Lagos, Nigeria, Bristow Group’s Africa region comprises operations in Nigeria, Ghana and affiliate Petroleum Air Services (PAS) in Egypt.
