Robert Clifford, an American aviation attorney, has stated that the fatal helicopter crash that took the lives of Herbert Wigwe, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings, and several other notable Nigerians in California on Friday may have been avoidable given the known weather conditions at that time.

This was revealed in a press release that Clifford, the founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago, put up on the business website on Wednesday.

The Airbus Helicopter EC130B4, carrying six occupants, including two crew members, crashed at a border town between California and Nevada, claiming the lives of Wigwe, his wife Doreen, his son Chizi, and Abimola Ogunbanjo, a former group chairman of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Clifford made his comments while the US National Transportation Safety Board was still looking into the helicopter crash.

The agency’s inspectors have already moved the wreckage of the airplane to a different US location for in-depth laboratory testing and analysis.

According to the NTSB, the preliminary report on the crash should be available in four weeks.

“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.” Stated part of the statement posted on Clifford Law Offices website.

Clifford served as Lead Counsel during the March 10, 2019, crash in Ethiopia of a Boeing 737 MAX8, which claimed the lives of all 157 people on board from 35 different nationalities.

US lawyer questions pilots decions to fly Wigwe, others despite challenging weather conditions

The US lawyer who claimed to have also represented victims of numerous helicopter crashes, questioned the decision of the pilots and others to allegedly take off in what were described as challenging weather conditions. The lawyer

According to media reports, locals reported rain and cold weather on Friday night at ten o’clock.

Clifford did, however, voice optimism that the US National Transportation Safety Board’s ongoing investigations would reveal whether or not the crash was preventable.

His words, “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,”

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

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