Access Bank chief Herbert Wigwe, other Nigerians killed in U.S. helicopter crash
Herbert Wigwe of Access Bank was among six people killed in a helicopter crash in the United States on Friday evening, Peoples Gazette heard.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Saturday it had launched a probe into the crash with the National Transportation Safety Board.
Mr Wigwe was travelling with other family members of Chris Ogunbanjo in a Eurocopter EC 130 chopper when it crashed around 10:00 p.m. Friday near Nipton, California, officials said. The crash occurred about 60 miles from Las Vegas, where the victims were reportedly travelling to see the Super Bowl on Sunday in a march between Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
Police officers from the San Bernadino Sheriff’s Office had started identifying bodies.
Mr Wigwe, 57, was a co-founder of Access Bank starting in 2002 after spending years at professional services firm Cooper & Lybrand, now PwC. He became the bank’s CEO in 2014, replacing Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.
He recently mourned the passing of Abdul Imoyo, his longtime colleague and head of corporate communications at Access Bank.
The crash that killed him came amid three deadly aviation disasters this weekend in the U.S. At least two people were killed Friday afternoon after a private jet lost both engines and crashed on a highway in Florida while the pilot tried to make an emergency landing.
On Friday, the U.S. military confirmed five marines died after a military helicopter went down in the mountains near San Diego, also in California. The military officers were on a training exercise when the incident happened.
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