The CEO of a major Nigerian bank, Herbert Wigwe, along with his wife, son, and three others, were tragically killed in a helicopter crash in the Mojave Desert near the California-Nevada border. The chartered Airbus EC130 helicopter was flying from Palm Springs, California, to Boulder City, Nevada, just outside of Las Vegas. The helicopter took off around 8:45 p.m. PT and crashed just after 10 p.m. near Interstate 15 in Halloran Springs, California. The cause of the crash is still unknown, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting an investigation.
The sudden, tragic death of Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of Access Bank in Nigeria, has left the financial and global community in mourning. The NTSB is actively investigating the cause of the crash and collecting evidence at the crash site. Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called the deaths “an overwhelming tragedy that is shocking beyond comprehension,” and the governor of Nigeria’s Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, described the deaths as an “irreparable loss.” The loss of Wigwe, who was a respected figure in Nigeria’s financial sector, has deeply impacted the communities he served.
The investigation will continue at the crash scene to document the site, and the NTSB has requested any witnesses to come forward with any available photos or videos of the incident. While a preliminary investigation report will be released in the coming weeks, the full inquiry could take as long as two years before a final report is published, according to NTSB member Michael Graham. The global financial community and the people of Nigeria are left mourning the tragic loss of Herbert Wigwe, his family, and the others aboard the helicopter.