The United States National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, has disclosed that the helicopter in which Herbert Wigwe was travelling caught fire after it crashed.
Michael Graham, one of the board members, made this known during a media briefing on the ill-fated helicopter crash on Sunday.
Graham confirmed that six people, including two crew members, died in the crash.
Sunrise reported the deaths of the co-founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings Plc, Herbert Wigwe; his wife, Chizoba; his son, Chizi; and Bimbo Ogunbanjo, a former chairman of the NGX. They all died in the helicopter crash that occurred on Friday night in the United States.
According to reports, they were going from Palm Springs Airport to Boulder City, Nevada, when the accident occurred.
Graham, while briefing reporters, said that the tragic incident occurred about 90 minutes after the charter flight took off, adding that “the helicopter impacted the terrain south of I-15 near Halloran Springs, California,” about 75 miles (120 kilometres) northeast of the city of Barstow.
Graham said: “As far as we know, there was fire when the aircraft did contact the terrain.”
He explained that witnesses said there “was rain with wintry mix” when the accident occurred, adding that ongoing investigations would reveal the cause of the crash.
According to him, investigators are still working on finding out the exact weather at the time of the crash.
“This is the beginning of a long process. We will not jump to any conclusions,” Graham said, warning that it could take 12 to 24 months for the full report on the investigation to be ready.
