Oil workers escape death as Bristow Helicopter makes emergency landing in PH

Florence Uwaeme

The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) on Tuesday said a chopper operated by Bristow Helicopters for offshore services was rescued when its engine developed failure while airborne.

AIB said the chopper was subsequently guided to land at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa by the pilot.

The agency said the incident happened on October 25, adding that preliminary investigation has been conducted to ascertain the reason for the engine failure.

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A senior AIB official explained that though the incident involved engine failure, nobody was injured, as the helicopter landed intact without injuries to those on board.

Tunji Oketunbi, a spokesman of Accident Investigation Bureau who confirmed the incident, said in a statement that there was a serious incident involving a Bristow helicopter in Port Harcourt on the 25 October 2019.

According to him: “We dispatched our investigators to site immediately.

“The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) have been retrieved. It is a serious incident since they declared an emergency. We have commenced an investigation,” he added.