Six people killed after a charter helicopter crashed in a Southern California desert area near the Mojave National Preserve were identified on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said those aboard were a pilot, a secondary safety pilot and four passengers.
Herbert O. Wigwe, 57, co-founder of Access Bank, along with Abimbola O. Ogunbanjo, 61, former chair of NGX Group, the Nigerian stock exchange, were among the victims, family members from his home village of Isiokpo said on Saturday.
Coroners on Tuesday identified the other victims as Herbert Chizi Wigwe, 29 and Doreen Chizoba Wigwe, 56, Wigwe’s son and wife. The pilots, Blake Hansen, 22, of Moorpark, and Benjamin Pettingill, 25, of Camarillo, also were killed in the crash.
The Airbus EC130 helicopter with the six people on board crashed on Friday night east of the 15 Freeway, near Halloran Springs Road, the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department said on Saturday. The helicopter had taken off from Palm Springs International Airport at 8:45 p.m. and was heading toward Boulder City, Nevada.
The passengers reportedly were headed to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, according to broadcast reports.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.