OAS AS 350 Fatal Accident Nigeria
An AS350 Helicopter of OAS (Ogendene Air Shuttle) Helicopters, based in Maryland, Lagos has crashed in heavily wooded hills near Ife Odan in Osun State north-north east of Lagos. The aircraft departed Lagos at midday yesterday with the pilot, who is reported to be a Filipino national and 2 female passengers. A search was started when the helicopter became overdue and 3 bodies have been found in the wreckage on a hilltop.
The cause of the accident is not known, but the Nigerian Emergency management Agency, NEMA, reports that poor visibility may have been a contributory factor. For pilots used to flying helicopters only around the swamps of the Niger Delta, the area where the crash occurred is very different and the nearby Ejigbo forest reserve is a heavily wooded hilly area where much of the land is above the 1,000 foot level.
This is the second fatal accident for local operator OAS, another Ecureil having flown through power lines in bad weather in Ovwian Alaja near Warri on 10 November 2006.