Ghana investigators find “black boxes” of helicopter who crashed …

The president of Ghana John Mahama promised a complete investigation into the wounded helicopter on Wednesday who killed two government ministers and six other people.

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Defense Minister Edward Omane Boamah and the Minister of the Environment, Science and Technology Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, both 50, were among those killed when a military plane crashed into the central region of Ashanti.

In a television speech to the nation, Mahama said that the accident represented “personal loss” for him.

The president confirmed that the flight data and the voice recorders of the piloting cabin – often indicated as “black boxes” – had been recovered and that the armed forces had “started a complete and transparent investigation”.

“I shared a link with many of those who died. Our nation is in mourning,” said Mahama to the Ghanaians.

The Z9 helicopter, who transported three crew members and five passengers, went down to a dense forest while flew from the capital, Accra, to the city of Obuasi for an event to face illegal mines. There were no survivors.

The bodies of the eight deceased were recovered from the accident site and champions were sent to South Africa for identification and forensic analysis.

The vice coordinator of the National Security of Ghana and former Minister of Agriculture Alhaji Muniru Mohammed was also among the dead, together with Samuel Sarong, vice -president of the party of the National Government Democratic Congress.

A state funeral will be held on August 15 for the victims, reported AFP.

What did the accident cause?
The authorities have not confirmed the cause of the accident.

The Ghana meteorological agency had foreseen an unusually cold climate for August, with recent rains and light showers that caused misty conditions in many forest areas. Local farmers near the Crash website reported with a morning fog while the helicopter flown up.

A witness told the BBC that the helicopter was flying to an “unusually low altitude” and the weather was bad.

He said he heard the sound of the helicopter who passed, followed by a “strong sound” and then by a “bang”.

“It was then that I realized that the helicopter had exploded. So I hurried to the place to see if I could find survivors,” he said.

The farmer said that when he arrived on the scene there was no “nobody to save”.

This is the most fatal between three separate emergency accidents involving helicopters of the Ghana Air Force in recent years.

In 2020, a Harbin Z-9 helicopter of the Ghana Air Force made an emergency landing near Tamale airport and last year, another helicopter of the Ghana Air Force made an emergency landing in Bonsukrom in the western region of Ghana.

● Three days of national mourning

Many Ghanaians are shocked by the news and are still struggling to come to terms with the news. The images presumably showing that the charred remains of the helicopter circulate on social media.

President Mahama suspended all his scheduled activities for the rest of the week and declared three days of mourning from Thursday.

The flags of the town fly to a auction.

The crew members were appointed as the leader of the Squadron Peter Bafemi Alala, flight officer Manin Twum-Ampdudu and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.

● Who was Edward Omane Boamah?

Boamah served under the previous Mahama government as Minister of Communications and before he was Minister of the Environment. As Minci Della Defense, he faced the jihadist activity who was preparing on the northern border in Burkina Faso.

In 2022, an NGO based in France, Promention, said that his research showed that the jihadist groups had recruited between 200 and 300 Ghanaian young people.

Violence in the area is also increasing, with concern for the fact that jihadists could try to exploit common fights among rival communities in northern Ghana.

Boamah’s book, a peaceful man in an African democracy, on the former president John Attra Mills, would have come out later during the year.

● Who was Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed?

Muhammed was at the forefront in the battle against the extraction of the golden gold, which destroyed the environment and contaminated rivers and lakes.

The protests against practice, known locally as Galamsey, reached the peak during the Mahama race for the presidency last year. [BBC]

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