Wealthy African banker, family identified as victims of San Bernardino Co. helicopter crash

A helicopter carrying six people crashed in eastern San Bernardino County Friday night, killing all passengers onboard.

The FAA confirmed that the Eurocopter EC130 went down around 10 p.m. east of the 15 Freeway and Halloran Springs Road near the community of Nipton, not far from the California-Nevada state line. Two pilots and four passengers were inside at the time.

Preliminary information indicates that the helicopter, owned by Orbic Air of Burbank, took off from Palm Springs on a charter flight and was last seen near Barstow.

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Its intended destination was reported as Boulder City, Nevada, located about 26 miles southeast of Las Vegas.

Witnesses said the conditions at the time of the crash were a possible mix of rain and wintry weather, said National Transportation Safety Board officials at a Saturday news conference.

New information released Saturday afternoon confirmed the identity of the victims as a wealthy Nigerian banker and his family.

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Among the deceased was Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of Access Bank, one of the largest banks in Nigeria. His death was confirmed by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director general of the World Trade Organization and formerly Nigeria’s finance minister, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Also onboard were Wigwe’s wife and son and a man identified by Okonjo-Iweala as Bombo Ogunbanjo, who is listed as the former chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc.

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The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that they were aware of the helicopter crash early Saturday afternoon after receiving several 911 calls from witnesses.

The helicopter was not equipped with a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder as NTSB officials said that particular model was not required to be equipped with those devices.

FAA and NTSB investigators will look at the plane’s maintenance and structure, flight crew records, meteorology, air traffic control, dispatch records and its flight path. An aerial mapping of the wreckage with a drone will also be conducted.

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A full list of the passengers’ identities will be confirmed and released by the coroner’s office.

NTSB officials are asking any witnesses with photos, videos or additional information on the crash to contact witness@ntsb.gov.

The NTSB’s Saturday press conference can be seen in the video player above.

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