Bristow Helicopter Limited on Thursday suspended operations, less
than 24 hours after one of its choppers ditched into the Lagos Lagoon,
killing six of the 12 persons on board.
The Airlines Head of
Communications, Cornelius Onuoha, who announced the decision in a
statement, in Lagos, said the suspension was in line with aviation
standards.
According to him, the suspension is to allow proper
investigation to be carried out on the incident, to avert further
occurrence.
He said that appropriate decision concerning its operation, would be communicated as the investigation continued.
Onuoha explained that the airline had informed the next of kin of the affected families that lost their members in the crash.
.
He said that it was too early to predict the cause of the unfortunate incident.
“It
is much too early to talk about the cause of this incident. It will
take weeks or months of investigation to determine why the incident
happened.
“The investigation will be conducted by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and we will cooperate fully.
“We
will not speculate about what may have been the cause, and we encourage
others not to speculate. Our pilots are trained to the highest
standards in the industry,” he said.
In a statement earlier by its
regional Manager, West Africa, Duncan Moore, the airline said the
aircraft, a Sikorsky S-76C+, was returning from a drilling rig offshore.
“Preliminary information indicates that the aircraft carried 10 passengers and a crew of two.
“The
company is in the process of collecting pertinent information and will
release details as soon as they are available,” the statement said.
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