Ban on military aircraft flights lifted

THE Ministry of Defence has lifted the ban on the flight of aircraft belonging to the Ghana Air Force (GAF).

This follows the declaration of the aircraft as air- worthy by the Agusta Bell Company Limited, manufacturers of helicopters, and their local agents as well as other technical experts in aviation.

The General Officer Commanding the Southern Command, Brigadier J. B. Danquah, disclosed this in an interview in Accra yesterday after a Ghana Air Force helicopter was used for a military and police operation in Accra last Sunday.

The exercise, which was under the command of Brigadier Danquah lasted for more than seven hours. He said all other aircraft of the GAF have also been made to undergo stringent examination to ensure their air worthiness to prevent any future accidents.

On March 20, this year, the Defence Minister, Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, instructed that all helicopters of the GAF be grounded and thoroughly checked to prevent any accidents.

He also requested the manufacturers of the Agusta Bell 412 helicopters and their local agents to assist the Ghana Armed Forces to review the current state of the helicopters .

The defence minister also requested that all other aircraft of the GAF should undergo stringent examinations to ensure their air worthiness to prevent accidents.

This became necessary when an Agusta Bell helicopter crashed on March 15, while on a medical evacuation mission from Nkawkaw. It was dispatched to the Nkawkaw Holy Family Hospital to convey a soldier and a civilian employee who were involved in a road accident to the 37 Military Hospital.

Two pilots, two technicians and a nurse from the Holy Family Hospital who were on board also died in the crash in the Atiwa Forest at Sagyimase in the Eastern Region.

After 10 hours when there was no contact with the helicopter, a rescue and search mission was launched which discovered the helicopter in the Atiwa Forest.