The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the Sikorsky SK76 helicopter, registered 5N BQG, have been recovered by the search and recovery team searching the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Bonny Finima for the helicopter that went down on October 24, 2024.

In a statement, NSIB’s Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance, Mrs. Bimbo Oladeji, revealed that the team comprised the Nigerian Navy, HydroDive, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, the Nigerian NNPC, and NIMASA.

https://www.instagram.com/godfatheraluminium1/profilecard/?igsh=dWw5YW05djR4MWNl

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558144097511&mibextid=LQQJ4d

According to Oladeji, the black box was taken out early on Friday.

“NSIB, in collaboration with the Search and Recovery partners NNPC, NIMASA, the Nigerian Navy, and HydroDive, has recovered the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) from the Sikorsky SK76 helicopter, registration 5N BQG, which went down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Bonny Finima on October 24, 2024,” the statement continues. At the time of the tragedy, eight people were being transported by the Eastwind Aviation-operated helicopter.

“NSIB and its Search and Recovery partners have been working with both domestic and foreign partners to coordinate a search and recovery effort since the accident in order to find and recover the deceased’s remains as well as the essential elements required for a thorough investigation.

Known as the aircraft’s “black box,” the FDR and CVR were recovered early this morning. This tool is essential for assisting investigators in analysing flight performance and communications within the cockpit in order to ascertain the chronology of events preceding the accident. To be transported to the NSIB data analysis facility, the recovered recorder has been secured. To learn more about the operational and technical circumstances leading up to the accident and to assist in identifying the cause of the incident, NSIB experts will extract and analyse the data.

Three people are still missing as of right now, and ongoing search operations are being coordinated with both domestic and foreign partners. Captain Alex Badeh Jr., Director General of the NSIB, praised the recovery teams and emphasised the significance of the inquiry:

An important step in figuring out what caused this terrible tragedy is the recovery of the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder. We will be able to identify the cause and inform any necessary safety recommendations with the use of the crucial information contained in the black box, which will give us priceless insight into the series of events leading up to the accident. Our sympathies are with the families of those who have not yet been found, but we are working hard to locate the missing and provide the families of those impacted by this catastrophe answers.