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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The family of the late Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former chairman of Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group, who was killed in a helicopter crash in California in February, has filed a suit against the helicopter company.
Recall that former Chief Executive Officer of Access Holdings, Dr Herbert Wigwe, his wife and son were also onboard the ill-fated helicopter the crashed in California, near the Nevada border, in the United States of America.
Ogunbanjo’s wife and two children, on Wednesday, filed a lawsuit in San Bernardino County Superior Court against Orbic Air and its CEO, Brady Bowers, alleging wrongful death and negligence.
The Ogunbanjo family stated that the flight should have been grounded because of treacherous weather.
They claimed that the charter company, Orbic Air, improperly flew the helicopter despite a “wintry mix of snowy and rainy conditions in the Mojave Desert where the crash occurred on February 9,” the Press Enterprise reports.
One of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, Andrew C. Robb, said Ogunbanjo’s family is seeking “answers and accountability.”
“Helicopters do not do very well in snow and ice,” Robb told the Associated Press.
“This flight was entirely preventable, and we don’t know why they took off,” he added.
The suit also includes the unidentified successors of Pettingill and Hansen, whom Ogunbanjo’s family holds responsible.
Orbic Air did not provide any comment on the matter.
The National Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating the crash.
A preliminary investigation report released by the agency in February revealed details about the helicopter’s flight path and wreckage.
“Witnesses reported observing a fireball during rainy and snowy conditions at the time of the crash,” it said.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial for Ogunbanjo’s burial expenses, funeral expenses, and other damages.
Robb & Robb, the law firm representing Ogunbanjo’s family, previously represented Vanessa Bryant in her lawsuit following Kobe Bryant’s fatal helicopter crash in 2020.
