The Airbus Helicopter EC 130 that transported Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of Access Holdings killing him and five others in California, has had several accidents in the past with one single cause of such accidents, the PIJAlance confirmed.
Parents of Jonathan, 31 and Ellie Milward Udall, 29, who boarded the helicopter from Boulder City, Nevada, in 2018 (the same city with the Wigwe) say “the fuel tank was basically a fire bomb,” telling the Associated Press, according to the Standard.
Jonathan and Ellie Milward Udall; Two brothers, Stuart and Jason Hill, 30 and 32 and Stuart Hill’s girlfriend Becky Dobson were part of the list of the tourists touring the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai reservation, outside the boundaries of the national park, when the crash happened and ended their lives.
Meanwhile, the pilot of the helicopter Scott Booth and Jason Hill’s girlfriend Jennifer Dorricott survived. But both sustained life-altering injuries.
According to the Standard the Udall’s family lawsuit alleged the helicopter was unsafe because it lacked a crash-resistant fuel system which is now required for aircraft built after the Federal Aviation Administration issued new regulations in 2020.
Mr Robb, the family lawyer in charge of the case said some helicopter manufacturers have voluntarily replaced older fuel tanks but many have not, leaving the Udall’s family with the willingness to spotlight this. But it was so unfortunate for the Wigwe’s family to have not been privy of this.
“The Udall family wants to shine a spotlight on this issue so the industry will take note and voluntarily seek to correct this public health issue. They don’t want anyone else to go through what their son went through in an otherwise survivable accident – not a broken bone. He would have walked away,” Mr Robb had said in 2018.
To further show the fault of the helicopter manufacturer, the Udall’s family finally won the lawsuit that arose from that accident in January, ending up with a $100 million landmark judgment.
Money stops justice. Probably. While the lawsuit was going on, Airbus manufactured helicopter, EC 130B4, burst into flames in December 1. This time, the helicopter was belonging to the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission.
According to the findings, the helicopter struck power cables during take-off and crashed, killing three people on board.
In January 2023, the Business Day, reported that two EC130B4s operated by Sea World Helicopters collided in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, killing four people and injuring eight.
These incidents, including that of Wigwes, could’ve been averted if, probably, the manufacturer could correct its commonly described “fire bomb fuel tank.”
For the Wigwes, it was an impact. Though, the investigation has yet to be concluded, NTSB said that tailwinds and turbulence were likely the reasons it lost control. The CNN reported that there was an impact, according to the National Transportation Safety Board member Michael Graham, half-baked revelation.
A preliminary investigation report will be released in the coming weeks, but the full inquiry could take as long as two years before a final report is published, according to Graham.
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Enoch Oyedibu
Brazen Investigative Journalist with a knack for tracking the grassroots impacts of government procurement, amplifying marginalised stories and contributing to community development. Data | Multimedia | Stories.
