A military helicopter crash in Ghana that killed eight people, including the defence and environment ministers, was caused by adverse weather conditions, according to an official probe published on Tuesday.
Investigators found that the weather, limited visibility and hilly terrain contributed to the crash in the south of Ghana in August.
“The accident was caused by the sudden loss of altitude and lift due to downdraft” – a phenomenon consistent with environmental turbulence, the report said.
The 12-year-old Chinese-made helicopter, that had been with the Ghana Air Force service for a decade, “was airworthy but lacked additional safety enhancements”, Captain Paul Forjoe, a retired commercial pilot and aviation engineer who led the investigation panel, said.
Aircraft did not have terrain awareness and warning system
He said the aircraft did not have a terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS), a predictive device that alerts pilots to potential ground collisions.
The probe also cited gaps in national aviation infrastructure.
These included limited navigational aids, a lack of simulator training for air force pilots and an absence of flight data monitoring or real-time tracking systems such as secondary surveillance radar.
“There was no information on the weather along the flight route available to the pilot,” said the report.
All eight people on board the helicopter died in the crash – Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah, Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, senior political figures and the air force crew.
