On June 5, 2000, a day after the controversial celebration of June 4 by the National Democratic Congress, using official State resources prohibited by a Supreme Court ruling, there was a plane crash at the Kotoka International Airport.
At least five people were reported to have died when the Fokker 27 plane operated by the Ghana Air Force for internal flights crashed as it landed at the Kotoka International Airport that fateful Monday.
Twelve years on, Saturday, June 2, a day preceding another controversial June 4 celebration in which State resources would have been used by the NDC to celebrate the event, another plane crash has occurred.
Five died in the first crash and ten in the second.
In the first instance, the plane, which was on a domestic flight from Tamale, was landing in poor visibility during a heavy rain after the pilot had unsuccessfully attempted to land in Lome, Togo, and Takoradi because of a downpour, reliable sources told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra.
The sources quoted the pilot as saying then that visibility was poor. He was, however, in contact with the Control Tower in Accra and was confident he could land successfully. The then Minister of Defence, Lieutenant Colonel E.K.T. Donkor, told reporters that it was too early to speculate about cause of the crash and that his office was making enquiries.
The authorities then closed down the Kotoka International Airport temporarily following the crash.
The then Director-General of Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Wing Commander Andy Mensah told the public that the closure is to enable the runway to be cleared of debris from the plane which, eyewitnesses said, broke into two.
He said the airport would re-open after about three hours to take flights. The military cordoned off the site of the crash and very little information has been filtering out. Unconfirmed reports said there were 54 passengers, including then reigning Miss Ghana, Marian Bugri, who was returning from the northern regions where she carried her message of education against breast cancer.
The injured passengers have been sent to the 37 Military Hospital, which had been working in darkness at a particular point because of a power failure. Fire Service engines and military helicopters rushed to the site of the crash to rescue survivors.
The signs appear to be clear. The NDC is certainly going out of power, if signs and wonders are anything to go by around this time. In the second instance, the ten, one female and nine males reportedly died when a Nigerian plane crashed into a bus loaded with passengers on a nearby street near the El-Wak Sports Stadium in Accra, a Ghana’s airport operator has confirmed in a statement. The plane, which arrived at the West Africa country from Lagos, overshot the runway when it attempted to land in Accra, another case, perhaps, of poor visibility as in 2000.
According to the statement, the plane "Flight number DHV 111, cargo aircraft, operating from Lagos to Accra, overshot the runway on landing on Saturday June 2, at 7:10 pm local time. The crew of four, however, survived, and was treated at the airport clinic.
"The aircraft collided with a minivan, resulting in 10 confirmed fatalities.” Ghana Aviation Authority officials said that they suspect a brake failure in the plane may have contributed to the crash. However, Ghana’s Vice President John Dramani Mahama, told reporters at the airport like Lt Colonel Donkor did in 2000, that a thorough investigation would be carried out.
“No early conclusions should be drawn,” he said. “We should allow investigations to arrive at the actual cause of the accident. But I can assure Ghanaians that the situation is under control.”
The bodies of those killed were taken to a morgue at the 37 Military Hospital.
