Nigeria’s National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC) has reported that a helicopter carrying six personnel and two crew crashed in the Gulf of Guinea, with five of them missing while three bodies had been retrieved as the time of this report.
A statement issued by NNPC Limited said it engaged the helicopter with registration number 5NBQG and it took off from Port Harcourt NAF enroute the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility-NUIMS ANTAN.
The company said, “At about 11:22 am, we lost contact with the Helicopter.”
The helicopter was operated by East Winds Aviation.
Soneye Olufemi Soneye, NNPC Ltd’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, who signed the statement confirming the incident, revealed that the appropriate authorities had been contacted, including the Ministry of Aviation, who had since issued a press statement.
“Search and rescue missions are currently ongoing. So far, three (3) bodies have been recovered,” he said.
He assured Nigerians that NNPC Limited would continue to monitor the situation closely and provide regular updates as events unfold.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the passengers, crew and their families during this challenging time. We are committed to doing everything possible to support the ongoing search and rescue operation,” the NNPC spokesperson stated.
Meanwhile, Eastwind Aviation, which operates Sikorsky S76, also confirmed the incident in a statement.
The statement said the bodies of three (3) persons onboard have been recovered this far, and identification procedures are currently underway.
“Search and rescue operations are currently ongoing for the remaining individuals.
“Our immediate focus and priority is on the search and rescue efforts. We are working closely with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority NCAA and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) and we will provide updates as soon as we have more confirmed information from the ongoing search and rescue operations,” he said.
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