Top US Citizen Reveals How Wigwe, Others Could Have Been Saved

A United States aviation lawyer, Robert Clifford, has asserted that the tragic helicopter crash claiming the lives of Access Holdings’ Group Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe, and other prominent Nigerians in California on Friday, could have been prevented.

Clifford, Founder and Senior Partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago, made this assertion in a press statement published on the company’s website on Wednesday.

Wigwe, along with his wife Doreen, son Chizi, and former Group Chairman of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Abimola Ogunbanjo, perished in the fatal crash.

The Airbus Helicopter EC130B4, carrying six occupants, including two crew members, crashed at a border town between California and Nevada.

Clifford’s statement comes amid the ongoing investigation of the chopper crash by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The aircraft wreckage has already been transferred by NTSB investigators to another location in the US for comprehensive laboratory examination and analysis.

According to NTSB, the preliminary report of the crash is anticipated to be ready in four weeks.

In Clifford Law Offices’ statement, it was stated, “The crash of a helicopter that killed six people including a top Nigerian banker and his family along the California-Nevada border Saturday night immediately strikes one as a tragedy that may have been avoided given the known weather conditions at that time.”

Clifford, known for his role as Lead Counsel in the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX8 plane in Ethiopia, questioned the decision of the pilots and others to take off in what was described as difficult weather conditions.

He expressed hope that NTSB’s ongoing investigations would ascertain if the crash was preventable or not.

“The National Transportation Safety Board investigators will thoroughly examine all aspects of what led up to the crash and ultimately will use their expertise to determine the probable cause of this crash to see if it was avoidable,” Clifford stated.

He added, “It is always a horrific tragedy when innocent lives are lost in an aviation disaster.”