The rescue team of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has retrieved the bodies of the three victims of a crashed helicopter on a mountainous area of Ife-Odan Village in Osun State.
The incident that occurred on Friday afternoon took the intervention of NEMA operation office from Lagos and Abuja who spent over six hours trying to locate the helicopter after the initial alert sent by nomadic Fulani men and hunters.
It was learnt that Osun Emergency Volunteer Groups and the police joined in the effort.
The helicopter which belonged to a private operator, OAS Air Service had three passengers on-board, including a male pilot and two women.
Meanwhile, the Director General of NEMA, Muhammed Sani-Sidi has sent an invitation to all airline and aircraft operators in Nigeria to an emergency meeting this week Thursday at the Sheraton Hotel Lagos, on the use of 406 MHZ Beacon for the purpose of Cospas-Sarsat Alerting system.
He said the agency found it necessary to collaborate on the issue and take a clear position on the use of Emergency Locator Transmitters Beacon where it would be mandatory for any aircraft flying in Nigeria to install it.
Following the tragic death of the managing director of Bacita Sugar Company, Josephine Kuteyi and two others in the crash, the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, yesterday, commiserated with families of the victims.
The development came even as the Accident Investigation Bureau said the remains of the victims had been deposited at the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Oshogbo.
Meanwhile, the AIB has commenced investigations to unravel the cause of the unfortunate incident, just as the accident investigation team has promised to update the media on the crash.
However, unconfirmed sources on Saturday claimed that late Mrs. Josephine Kuteyi, who reportedly died in the helicopter crash was on a trip to meet an official appointment with a high ranking officer of the Kwara State government when she met her ghastly death.
Sources at the Ilorin International Airport expressed surprise over Kuteyi's death, saying she was a regular face at the airport as she always travelled in chartered flights or helicopters.
One of the workers noted that even the team to receive her on Friday was on hand at the airport before hearing of the crash that occurred at Ife Odan in Osun State.
One of the members of staff airport said she was seen on Wednesday when she came aboard a chartered flight from Lagos.
In another development, investigators are considering why the late pilot of the helicopter that crashed in Ife-Odan, Osun state on Friday, allegedly failed to communicate with the Ilorin control tower before the accident.
Sources familiar with the initial investigation disclosed to Sunday Tribune that since the helicopter was heading for Ilorin, the pilot should have initiated necessary communications to guide its movement.
The source, who spoke under anonymity, recalled that immediately news of the crash filtered in, officials were drafted to the scene to undertake preliminary investigations.
The source, who noted that the flight was coming from Iwo, said the pilot at no time made contact with Ilorin which was an unusual development.
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