Wigwe: Eurocopter EC 130 helicopters and it's history of accidents

The history of the Eurocopter EC 130, the helicopter that transported Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of Access Holdings killing him as well as five others in California can be traced to several accidents in the past.

The Federal Aviation Administration said a helicopter crashed Friday night near Nipton, California, with six people on board

The FAA identified the helicopter as a Eurocopter EC 130.

Manufactured by Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter), the single-engine aircraft and its variations have a long history of accidents.

The February 2018 crash involving another Eurocopter EC 130B4 killed five people, all of them Britons, in the Grand Canyon.

Two brothers, Stuart and Jason Hill, 30 and 32, were among the dead. Stuart Hill’s girlfriend Becky Dobson was also killed in the crash. The three were pronounced dead at the scene.

Husband and wife Jonathan and Ellie Udall were also victims of the deadly crash. They both died of complications from burns days later.

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The pilot Scott Booth and Jason Hill’s girlfriend Jennifer Dorricott survived. But both sustained life-altering injuries.

The aircraft burst into flames after crashing. The pilot told American investigators that the helicopter encountered a “violent gust of wind” and started spinning.

NTSB said that tailwinds and turbulence were likely the reasons it lost control.

A lawsuit that arose from that accident ended in a $100 million landmark judgment in January.

In December 1, a Eurocopter EC 130B4, belonging to the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission, struck power cables during take-off and crashed, killing three people on board.

In January 2023, two EC130B4s operated by Sea World Helicopters collided in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, killing four people and injuring eight.

Following these accidents it is now required all helicopter fuel tanks are shielded from fuel tank rupture on impact.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.