Bristow Helicopter Crash In Oworonshoki Report Reveals A Jam Nut At The Controls Was Broken

The preliminary investigation report by the Accident Investigation Bureau, reviewing the August 15th, 2015 Bristow helicopter crash into the Oworonshoki area lagoon in Lagos State, has found some likely causes of the accident and listed 23 findings.

According to the report, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters, there were six fatalities, including both crew members one of them an American, and six severe injuries on the day of the accident. One of the findings from the preliminary report stated that “rescue efforts were prompt” because nearby fishermen observed the wreck and immediately responded. The report stated that “six passengers were rescued alive and four fatalities recovered on 12/08/2015. The flight crew were recovered the next day on the 13/08/2015 both fatally injured.”
The preliminary report explained that the “National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) led the rescue with Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) playing an important role” in coordinating and responding to the crash. Other agencies assisting were “NCAA, NAMA, Nigerian Police, Nigerian Air Force, Marine Navy-International Maritime Organization/International Transport Fund (IMO/ITF), Nigerian Army, Indigo Drilling, FRSC, Civil Defence Corps, Bristow Helicopters, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI).” It added that Julius Berger Ltd. “placed a vital role in wreckage recovery.”
Also found was that “neither the crew nor the passengers had the opportunity to either inflate their life jackets or deploy the raft.” It also found that the crew did not make a distress call before the helicopter crashed into the lagoon though the report did note that “there was good communication between the helicopter and the Tower before the accident.”
The “Cockpit Voice Recorder was also installed on the helicopter. The recorders were recovered by professional divers in good condition from the lagoon on the second day of the accident, but the combined recorder had few punctures. The recorders were sent to Air Accident Investigation Branch UK for data download.”
Flight recorders
The AAIB in the UK found that voice data does exist which is currently under analysis in their laboratories.
The report stated that the Accident Investigation Bureau “discovered that the Forward Main Servo Input Control Pushrod Assembly had failed. The Control Pushrod tube separated from Control rod end with the bearing and the Jam nut. The Jamnut was loose and was not seating against the Control Rod.” This, as inferred from the report, could have been at least one cause of the accident.
The preliminary investigation found that the Bristow helicopter was “maintained in accordance with approved maintenance schedule” and that “no records of any deferred defects in the tech log” were found.