Nigeria's Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festo Keyamo, has informed through a statement signed by the minister's press and public relations officer, Odutayo Oluseyi, that yesterday a Sikorsky S-76C+ helicopter, registration 5N-BQG, operated by East Wind Aviation, disappeared with eight people on board (six passengers and two crewmembers), in the waters off Bonny Finima, in the Atlantic Ocean, while en route from the Port Harcourt military base to the Nuim Atan oil platform.

Once alerted, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau activated emergency response teams, and search and rescue operations are ongoing with the support of the Nigerian Search and Rescue Unit, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) and other relevant agencies. Neighboring airports have also been alerted to provide support. Although no signal has been received from the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), efforts are still underway to trace the area where the helicopter went down.

All available resources have been deployed, the statement concludes, including military aircraft that are conducting low-altitude searches to locate and rescue any survivors. Three bodies have been recovered so far.

Eastwind Aviation, a global provider of helicopter services for commercial aviation in Nigeria, active in the Oil & Gas and Government sectors, confirmed the incident.