TheCable

Bristow Helicopter Limited has suspended operations as a result of the tragic incident involving one of its aircraft.

The chopper carrying 12 persons plunged into a lagoon in the Oworonshoki area of Lagos around 3:30pm on Wednesday.

Announcing the suspension of activities, Cornelius Onuoha, the airline’s head of communications, said the development was in line with aviation standards, which requires proper investigation to be carried out.

He said appropriate decision concerning its operation, would be communicated as the investigation continued.

Onuoha explained that the airline had informed the next of kin of the affected families that lost their members in the crash, adding that it was too early to predict the cause of the unfortunate incident.

“It is much too early to talk about the cause of this incident. It will take weeks or months of investigation to determine why the incident happened,” he said.

“The investigation will be conducted by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and we will cooperate fully.

“We will not speculate about what may have been the cause, and we encourage others not to speculate. Our pilots are trained to the highest standards in the industry.”

Duncan Moore, Bristow’s regional manager in West Africa, Duncan Moore, said the aircraft, a Sikorsky S-76C+, was returning from a drilling rig offshore.

“Preliminary information indicates that the aircraft carried 10 passengers and a crew of two,” he said.

“The company is in the process of collecting pertinent information and will release details as soon as they are available.”

The airline has not released the manifest of passengers that are on board the ill-fated chopper.

Meanwhile, the AIB has said the names of the victims will not be released until the airline contacts families of the victims in line with international aviation practice.

Addressing journalists in Lagos, Felix Abali, a commissioner of the bureau, said the names will be made public as soon as Bristow notifies the families involved.

“We do have the copy of the manifest but there are protocol which we must go through before releasing it,” he said.

“The families must be briefed first. It is the responsibility of the airlines to release the manifest, they have to contact the families first before they release it to the public.”