Family holds funeral mass without corpse of Bristow co-pilot

Tears flowed freely in Calabar on Thursday when families and friends of the late Capt. Peter Bello, the co-pilot of the ill-fated Bristow Helicopter, gathered to pay tribute to the young lad.

Bello was among those six people who died in the Bristow helicopter crash that plunged into the Lagos Lagoon after developing a a fault on August 12.

He was born on July 4, 1989 in Calabar to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bello (Senior), who are from Cross River State.

Funeral programmes leading to the final interment of the deceased started on Wednesday at his family compound in the Ikot-Ansa axis of the Calabar metropolis with close relatives, friends and colleagues paying glowing tributes.

Unfortunately, the corpse did not arrive Calabar on schedule. Few family members had on Thursday converged on the Margaret Ekpo International Airport in Calabar to receive the corpse, but had to leave at 3pm after waiting for about five hours.

No reason was immediately given for delay in bringing the corpse from Lagos, but it was later learnt that this might be due to an expected report from the Accident Investigation Bureau on the crash.

At the funeral mass service, the deceased’s father managed to greet well-wishers while the mother of the co-pilot,Thelma, also struggled to exchange pleasantries with those that had come to comfort them.

Delivering his homily at the vigil mass on Wednesday, Archbishop Joseph Ukpo enjoined those present to regard the gathering as a celebration of the life for the late Capt. Peter Bello.

He said although he died a young man, the co-pilot had created positive impact around him as exemplified by the number of people present at the mass.

Ukpo said, “His courage and integrity stood him out. Handsome, confident, easygoing, and courageous he followed his dreams and certainly achieved them.

“Let us not remember him with the agonising moments of his death as the helicopter plunged into the Lagoon, it was momentary, but let us remember him as our friend, brother, schoolmate and beloved photographer.”

All those who came out to pay tribute described the young pilot as a cheerful person who would forever be missed, as he was said to be a“star, saint and angel”.

Capt. Henry Joe, a pilot with Air Aviation in South Africa, described the late Bello as someone who was down to earth, disciplined and loving while he was alive.

Joe said, “We were bosom friends; we attended the same school, Hill Crest High in Calabar, until we went our separate ways in the aviation industry. Bello was from a disciplined home. On the other hand, he was hard working, intelligent, up and doing.

“He loves nature, photograph. He took the bold mantle to go into aviation even as the only son of his parents. He loved airplanes and helicopters even as a child. He loved sitting in the cockpit.”

At the church funeral mass on Thursday, The parish priest of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Ikot Ansa, Rev. Fr. Patrick Corcoran, who drew his bible reading from John 14:1-6, admonished Christians not to allow their hearts to be troubled, but to have faith in God.“Life is a gift from God, at the end, we all return to Him as the late Bello has,” he said. Corcoran condoled with the family and urged them to be thankful to God that their son died a Christian.

After the church service, both parents of late Bello refused to speak with newsmen on their feelings over their son’s death. But earlier in their tribute, the deceased’s father said,

A relative of the deceased, Mrs. Femi Bello, said death took the young pilot too early when his services were most needed at Bristow Helicopters.

She prayed for the soul of Bello to rest in peace.

A family friend, Mrs Theresa Okon, said that the late Capt. Bello was a celebrated pilot who devoted adequate time to his job.

The Lagos Base Manager of Bristow Helicopters, Capt. Ayo Oni, described his late colleague as one of the few cadets who felt very comfortable with the controls especially for his experience level and always wanted to know more.

“He was never late for flights. He never had excuses not to fly. It was his passion,” Oni said in a mournful mood.

Our correspondent later learnt that the corpse of the deceased was released late Thursday from Lagos.

The late Capt. Bello graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University, Ghana, in 2010. He went further to obtain a masters’ degree in Process Safety from the

Bristol Academy, Titusville-Florida, United States of America in 2012.

He was employed as a trainee pilot with Bristow Helicopters in 2013 and got his flying wings in 2014 as a pilot. May his beautiful soul rest in perfect peace