NCAA confirms Airworthiness of Helicopter involved in port Harcourt crash

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has clarified that the helicopter involved in a recent crash in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, identified as 5N-BQG, was airworthy at the time of the incident.

This announcement comes amid confusion surrounding its registration history.

Initial reports claimed that the helicopter, originally registered as 5N-BGN in 2004, had been presumed scrapped in 2018.

However, in a statement issued by Chris Najomo, acting director-general of the NCAA, it was confirmed that the crashed helicopter is distinct from the one previously registered as 5N-BGN.

The crash, which occurred on October 24, resulted in the deaths of three individuals, with ongoing efforts to locate the remaining passengers.

The helicopter was operated by Eastwind Aviation Limited and was on a flight from the Nigerian Air Force base in Port Harcourt to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited’s floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility.

The NCAA stated that the 5N-BQG helicopter was registered in 2012, countering claims that it was the same aircraft as the earlier 5N-BGN.

The NCAA emphasized that earlier reports may have confused the two helicopters due to similarities in their Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN) codes.

According to the NCAA, the crashed helicopter has an MSN of 760486, while the deregistered 5N-BGN has an MSN of 760468.

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“Aircraft can be tracked not only by their registration marks but also by their Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN),” the NCAA explained.

The 5N-BGN helicopter had a complex registration history, including a change of ownership and operator multiple times before it was deregistered to Canada in February 2009.

In contrast, the 5N-BQG helicopter was first registered on December 10, 2012, and underwent its final amendment in February 2024, changing its operator to Eastwind Aviation Logistics Services Limited.

The NCAA concluded that the mix-up in reports was due to the similarities in the helicopters’ MSN codes, reinforcing that the Eastwind Aviation helicopter was indeed airworthy at the time of the crash.