Ghana has retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from a military helicopter that crashed on Wednesday in the Ashanti Region, killing eight people including two cabinet ministers, President John Mahama announced.
Defense Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment, Science and Technology Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, both 50, were among the dead. The Z-9 helicopter, carrying three crew and five passengers, went down in dense forest while flying from Accra to Obuasi for an event targeting illegal mining. There were no survivors.
In a televised address, Mahama called the tragedy a “personal loss” and said the armed forces had opened a full, transparent investigation. The bodies have been recovered; samples were sent to South Africa for forensic identification.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause. The meteorological service had warned of unusually cool, foggy conditions in forested areas, and witnesses reported low altitude flying in poor weather moments before a loud explosion.
Among the other victims were Deputy National Security Coordinator and former Agriculture Minister Alhaji Muniru Mohammed and Samuel Sarpong, vice-chair of the ruling National Democratic Congress. The crew were named as Sqn Ldr Peter Bafemi Anala, Fg Off Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Sgt Ernest Addo Mensah.
Mahama declared three days of national mourning from Thursday; flags are at half-mast. A state funeral is set for 15 August, according to AFP.
The crash is the deadliest of three recent emergencies involving Ghana Air Force helicopters, following a 2020 emergency landing near Tamale and another last year at Bonsukrom.
Profiles
- Edward Omane Boamah: Former communications minister; as defense minister, focused on countering jihadist spillover along Ghana’s northern border. He had a forthcoming book, A Peaceful Man in an African Democracy, about ex-president John Atta Mills.
- Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed: Led the government’s campaign against illegal gold mining (galamsey), blamed for severe environmental damage and water contamination.