Bell 430 crash near Cabinda, Angola

A Bell 430 helicopter (D2-EYI) operated by Heli Malongo departed Malongo Terminal in Cabinda at 3:23 p.m. en route to Chevron's Tombua-Landana offshore oil platform but never arrived. All 6 on board were killed: a South African pilot, one Chevron employee, and four contractors including a Tenaris field service specialist. A search involving 19 vessels and 3 helicopters was launched. Divers recovered the wreckage from the seabed. The investigation found the main rotor pitch link clevis fractured due to fatigue cracking at the threaded section. This was the same failure mode that would later cause the fatal Netcare 911 Bell 430 crash near Bergville, South Africa in 2021, leading Bell to issue an airworthiness directive for pitch link inspections on all Bell 430s worldwide.