The preliminary report released by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) provides more details about the helicopter crash that killed Access Holdings Plc CEO Herbert Wigwe, his wife, son, and three others.
Witnesses reported seeing the helicopter as a "fireball" before it crashed near Halloran Springs, California on February 9. The weather conditions at the time were a mix of rain and snow.
The report stated that the helicopter's automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) technology recorded an increase in ground speed before the crash. The helicopter followed a northwesterly heading before taking US Highway 111 to Interstate 10 and then following I-215 to I-15. The ADS-B track data was lost around Barstow, California, and resumed near the Halloran Springs/I-15 exit.
The accident site was located 0.31 miles east-southeast of the last data point. Witnesses traveling on I-15 reported observing a "fireball" and called 911. The wreckage was found in high mountainous desert and scrub brush covered terrain, with debris scattered about 300 ft along a 120° magnetic heading.
The report indicated that the fuselage, cockpit, and cabin were destroyed, and some debris and vegetation displayed thermal damage. The flight control tubes and linkages leading up to the flight control servos were fragmented and continuity could not be verified. The main rotor blades were fragmented and broomstrawed, but the blade sleeves and tips were present.
The NTSB will continue to investigate the crash to determine the cause.