The Accident Investigation Bureau has said there was no fuel in the tank of the ill-fated Bell 206B III Helicopter which crashed into a building at Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos on August 28.
This was contained in its preliminary report released on Monday.
However, the report revealed that the chopper had been topped to full tank capacity on August 27 at Port Harcourt before embarking on the journey the following day.
The report also indicated that there was no evidence showing that the pilot had applied for the exemption provided by the NCAA’s All Operators’ Letter AOL DG020/20 neither was there evidence of an application for the exemption provided by the AOL DG018/20 for proficiency check.
According to the AIB, the chopper which took off from Port Harcourt at 9.20am estimated to land in Lagos after two hours forty minutes crashed into a residential building at 12.14 pm.
It lost contact with the control tower at 11:16 am.
Part of the report read, “There was no fuel left in the fuel tanks after the crash. The mast and main rotor blades were found intact during the post-crash inspection.”
However, operators of the crashed helicopter, Quorum Aviation Limited, has said that it sent a letter to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority requesting an extension of its pilot’s licence to fly the ill-fated Bell 206B III helicopter.
The company identified the pilot as Captain Chika Prudence Ernest.
The findings made by the AIB revealed that the pilot’s last medical examination was valid till August 6 while the proficiency check was valid till August 24.
