{"id":17526,"date":"2024-02-19T16:40:36","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T15:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=17526"},"modified":"2024-02-19T16:40:38","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T15:40:38","slug":"false-viral-helicopter-crash-footage-photo-unrelated-to-incident-involving-wigwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/false-viral-helicopter-crash-footage-photo-unrelated-to-incident-involving-wigwe\/","title":{"rendered":"False! Viral helicopter crash footage, photo unrelated to incident involving Wigwe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim: Video footage of a plummeting helicopter and an image of a wrecked helicopter linked to Herbert Wigwe\u2019s helicopter crash.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Verdict: False. The plummeting helicopter captured in video footage and claimed to have killed Access Holdings CEO Herbert Wigwe and his family is a previous crash that took place in Florida. Likewise, the image of a wrecked helicopter purportedly linked to Mr Wigwe\u2019s helicopter crash took place in Shelby County, Chelsea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, Feb. 10, 2024, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Access Holdings (owner of Access Bank), Herbert Wigwe, was reported<\/a> to have died in a helicopter crash alongside his wife, son, and a Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) former president, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tragic incident was reported to have occurred at 10:00 PM local time on Friday, as the banker and others in his company were headed to Boulder City, Nevada, from Palm Springs, when the helicopter came down 90 kilometres (60 miles) from Las Vegas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before these claims were posted on both Instagram and Twitter, a Facebook user had also posted a video of a crashing helicopter, linking it to Mr Wigwe\u2019s accident, which DUBAWA fact-checked here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequently, an Instagram user, godfather_adeleke<\/a>, posted a video clip of a dangerously plummeting helicopter allegedly from the incident. Along with the video clip, he claimed the helicopter crash had resulted in the death of Mr Wigwe, his wife, son, and the NGX former president, Abimbola Ogunbanjo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFlash: Herbert Wigwe\u2013 the Access bank CEO, wife, son, Abimbola Ogunbanjo in a chopper crash,\u201d the Instagram user wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post attracted about 895 likes on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some users believed the stories, while others did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis looks like a planned incident.\u201d Kingsleycharles_on dismissed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not the same accident video.\u201d onekr100 pointed out<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another related claim, an X (formerly Twitter) user posted a wrecked helicopter that had also crash-landed. The user Seriki Asafa Abdulwasiu (@asafaabdulwasi2<\/a>) referred to the wrecked aircraft as the helicopter that had crashed the Access Holdings CEO and the rest of his company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the helicopter that claimed the lives of Herbert Wigwe, Access Bank CEO, and his family,\u201d part of his post reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post generated four comments, 15 retweets, and 38 likes and was bookmarked once as of Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the rising scepticism about the video, DUBAWA decided to verify the claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verification<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We conducted a keyword search on Google, leading DUBAWA to a YouTube video of a similar helicopter crash reported by Fox 11<\/a>. We also observed that the video<\/a> shown by the news network was the same one posted on Instagram but with a different narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, the video shared on Instagram shows that the helicopter crash occurred during the day. Meanwhile, according to Premium Times<\/a> and BBC<\/a>, the helicopter crash, which the Access Holdings CEO was linked with, occurred at 10:00 PM local time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA also verified the helicopter image posted on X. We subjected the image to Google Reverse Image Search, which linked us to a news story that Birmingham Real-Time<\/a> News published <\/strong>on April 24, 2023. The original incident was a Life Saver helicopter that crashed in Shelby County, Chelsea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eurocopter EC130 helicopter medevac was reported to have \u201cburst into flames\u201d after dangerously swirling in the air before making a nose-down attitude towards the roadway.\u00a0 The Irish Mirror<\/a> also reported the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The claims are false. News reports from credible media outlets reveal that the acclaimed video and image are unrelated to the helicopter crash involving the Access Holdings CEO and his family. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim: Video footage of a plummeting helicopter and an image of a wrecked helicopter linked to Herbert Wigwe\u2019s helicopter crash. Verdict: False. The plummeting helicopter captured in video footage and claimed to have killed Access Holdings CEO Herbert Wigwe and his family is a previous crash that took place in Florida. Likewise, the image of a wrecked helicopter purportedly linked to Mr Wigwe\u2019s helicopter crash took place in Shelby County, Chelsea. Full Text On Friday, Feb. 10, 2024, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Access Holdings (owner of Access Bank), Herbert Wigwe, was reported to have died in a helicopter crash alongside his wife, son, and a Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) former president, Abimbola Ogunbanjo. The tragic incident was reported to have occurred at 10:00 PM local time on Friday, as the banker and others in his company were headed to Boulder City, Nevada, from Palm Springs, when the helicopter came down 90 kilometres (60 miles) from Las Vegas. Before these claims were posted on both Instagram and Twitter, a Facebook user had also posted a video of a crashing helicopter, linking it to Mr Wigwe\u2019s accident, which DUBAWA fact-checked here.\u00a0 Subsequently, an Instagram user, godfather_adeleke, posted a video clip of a dangerously plummeting helicopter allegedly from the incident. Along with the video clip, he claimed the helicopter crash had resulted in the death of Mr Wigwe, his wife, son, and the NGX former president, Abimbola Ogunbanjo. \u201cFlash: Herbert Wigwe\u2013 the Access bank CEO, wife, son, Abimbola Ogunbanjo in a chopper crash,\u201d the Instagram user wrote. The post attracted about 895 likes on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Some users believed the stories, while others did not. \u201cThis looks like a planned incident.\u201d Kingsleycharles_on dismissed. \u201cThis is not the same accident video.\u201d onekr100 pointed out. In another related claim, an X (formerly Twitter) user posted a wrecked helicopter that had also crash-landed. The user Seriki Asafa Abdulwasiu (@asafaabdulwasi2) referred to the wrecked aircraft as the helicopter that had crashed the Access Holdings CEO and the rest of his company. \u201cThis is the helicopter that claimed the lives of Herbert Wigwe, Access Bank CEO, and his family,\u201d part of his post reads. The post generated four comments, 15 retweets, and 38 likes and was bookmarked once as of Monday, Feb. 12, 2024.  Given the rising scepticism about the video, DUBAWA decided to verify the claims. Verification We conducted a keyword search on Google, leading DUBAWA to a YouTube video of a similar helicopter crash reported by Fox 11. We also observed that the video shown by the news network was the same one posted on Instagram but with a different narrative. Also, the video shared on Instagram shows that the helicopter crash occurred during the day. Meanwhile, according to Premium Times and BBC, the helicopter crash, which the Access Holdings CEO was linked with, occurred at 10:00 PM local time.\u00a0 DUBAWA also verified the helicopter image posted on X. We subjected the image to Google Reverse Image Search, which linked us to a news story that Birmingham Real-Time News published on April 24, 2023. The original incident was a Life Saver helicopter that crashed in Shelby County, Chelsea. The Eurocopter EC130 helicopter medevac was reported to have \u201cburst into flames\u201d after dangerously swirling in the air before making a nose-down attitude towards the roadway.\u00a0 The Irish Mirror also reported the story. Conclusion The claims are false. News reports from credible media outlets reveal that the acclaimed video and image are unrelated to the helicopter crash involving the Access Holdings CEO and his family. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1571,3812,3815,123],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[3699],"class_list":["post-17526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-check","category-headline","category-homepage","category-mainstream"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-4yG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":3699,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"cole-praise","display_name":"Cole Praise","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7934b84f51e2c1f4c1e77cce93c223ac97cc2da29198aa9141fd944b0407bb2d?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Herbet-wigwe.png?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17528,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17526\/revisions\/17528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17526"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=17526"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=17526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}