Unbelievable: Court had declared Wigwe’s chopper model unsafe for flights, after many crashes – Investigation

Unbelievable: Court had declared Wigwe’s chopper model unsafe for flights, after many crashes – Investigation

 

A new investigation has revealed that Eurocopter EC 130B4, the aircraft model that Friday crashed and claimed the lives of Herbert Wigwe, Access Holdings CEO, his wife, son and three others, recorded five crashes last year alone.

A report of an investigation released on Monday by FIJ stated that a Nevada judge concurred with the position of relations of a crash victim that the aircraft model was unsafe for air travel as it did not have a crash-resistant fuel system, which was why it regularly burst into flames upon crashing.

It also reported that a similar crash occurred on December 1, 2023, involving the same Eurocopter EC 130B4, which struck power cables during takeoff and crashed into a ball of flames near Ex Hacienda el Hospital, Cuautla, Morelos in Mexico.

Three people died in the accident.

It was the last of 11 crashes involving Airbus models in 2023.

A total of 100 crashes involving the aircraft and previous models manufactured by Airbus Helicopters SAS have been recorded since 1975, according to the investigation.

Wigwe died in the helicopter crash near Interstate 15 in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, and questions were raised over the circumstances surrounding the crash.

The same aircraft model crashed in the Grand Canyon in 2018 and claimed the lives of five people.

Scott Booth, who piloted that flight and managed to survive, told investigators that the aircraft encountered a violent gust of wind before spinning uncontrollably and crashing into flames.

Parents of Jonathan Udall, one of the passengers on the flight, who was on a honeymoon with Eleanor, his wife, had filed a lawsuit against Papillon Airways Inc, the company that owned the aircraft, and the manufacturer.

These plaintiffs argued before the Nevada judge that the aircraft was unsafe for air travel.

In January, the court ordered that Papillon should pay them $24.6 million and Airbus pay $75 million for the loss of their son.

Speaking to the Associated Press after the ruling, Gary Robb, the family’s lawyer, said, “They don’t want anyone else to go through what their son went through in an otherwise survivable accident — not a broken bone. He would have walked away.”

His statement was a nod to the fact that Jonathan did not die as a result of the direct impact of the crash but suffered burns in the explosion, which caused his death days later.