Allied Air Cargo Plane Crash: Final Report In

The Accident Investigation Committee set up to look into circumstances leading to the crash of an Allied Air Cargo plane in June this year on Friday presented a draft final report to the Ministry of Transport.

The findings of the draft final report were not made known.

Presenting the report to the deputy Minister of Transport, Mrs Dzifa Attivor, Captain Alec Grant Sam, Chairman of the five-member investigation team, said the report would be finalised after responses have been received from the aircraft's manufacturer, Boeing and the Nigerian aviation authorities.

“Not until we get responses from the concerned parties, this report cannot be accepted as final report,” Captain Sam said, adding that, the Committee expected the parties would provide their comments as quickly as possible to enable the team to finalise the report.

He said if the parties failed to provide comments after the maximum one year period, usually allowed in such situations the Accident Investigation Committee would then meet to finalise the report.

On the night of June 2, the Allied Air Boeing 727-200 (DHV 111) overrun the runway destroying the Instrument Landing System Localiser Bars, broke through the airport perimeter wall and killed nine persons in a bus and one on a motorbike.

The committee was tasked to establish the cause of the accident, determine the extent of fatalities and injuries, losses or damage to property as well as other relevant issues concerning the incident and to make recommendations to forestall future occurrences.

Other members includes Mr Ben Bouto-former Director of Safety Regulation of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, Mr Ben Sakpaku-former Deputy Director, Safety Regulation, Mr Eric Ewusi of the Safety Regulation Department and Mr Kenneth Kofi Kwawukume-former Deputy Director, Air Traffic Services.

In a preliminary report the Accident Investigation Team indicated an unstable approach leading to the runway excursion (overrun). It said the black box had been recovered and flown to the US to obtain data, which would assist in the determination of the probable cause(s) of the accident.

Receiving the report, Mrs Attivor said the Ministry would study it and make its findings known to the public.

She assured the general public that adequate steps had been taken to ensure safety of passengers and that the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) had initiated action to replace the Instrument Landing System destroyed by the aircraft by the end of the month.