Retired Air Force Officer explains possible cause of deadly Ghana helicopter crash

Former Ghana Air Force officer Wing Commander Patrick Nelson Sogbodjor (Rtd) has offered detailed insights into the circumstances that may have led to the recent military helicopter crash near Obuasi, a tragedy that has plunged the nation into mourning.

On Wednesday, August 6, 2026, a Ghana Armed Forces Z-9 military helicopter went down in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region, killing all eight people on board.

The fatalities include Minister for Defence Dr Edward Omane Boamah and Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed.

Others who lost their lives were Muniru Mohammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator; Samuel Aboagye, a former Member of Parliament; and Samuel Sarpong, Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

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The three military crew members, Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Mane-Twum Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah, also perished in the crash.

In an exclusive interview with TV3 on Friday, August 8, Wing Commander Sogbodjor emphasised that all aircraft undergo stringent checks before departure and that pilots are trained to abort flights if any safety concerns arise.

"All aeroplanes go through checks. Pilots also do external checks before they take off, and if he sees anything which is not good, he will tell you — he will not fly. No one takes off to go and die," he explained as quoted by 3News.

According to Sogbodjor, the crash may have been caused by a loss of power mid-flight.

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He noted:

The pilot may have been losing power and trying to get the helicopter to get up. Also, because of the aviation kerosene we use, it’s very easy for it to catch fire when there is an impact

He further speculated that the victims might have been incapacitated before the helicopter burst into flames.

He said:

I have a feeling by the time it hit the tree and hit the ground, they may have been in a comatose situation, else they would have tried to crawl out. It [the helicopter] bursts out in flames when it hits an object

The retired officer also questioned how the helicopter could have come into contact with a tree, given Ghana’s terrain.

I don’t think we have any tree which is 1,000 or 2,000 feet in Ghana. The topography from Accra to Obuasi is also known. I think what we need to find out is what happened for the aircraft to have come down for the rotor to touch or hit a tree

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Sogbodjor outlined standard pre-flight and in-flight procedures, noting that pilots meticulously plan their routes, altitude, and weather assessments with air traffic control before takeoff.

Pilots conduct an external inspection, then once you enter the cockpit, you do a pre-start check. Then you start the engine, after which you accept that the plane is good enough to fly. You talk to the control tower and plan your flight, your route, your height, and weather conditions, and then the tower gives you clearance to take off

He expressed confidence that investigators would identify the cause of the crash, highlighting the critical role of the aircraft’s voice recorder.

He explained:

The voice recorder will record all communication between the pilots and the control centre. The parameters of the site are also monitored before the crash. So these will give us a sense of what happened

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Sogbodjor added that Ghana possesses the expertise to handle such investigations.

The procedure they should go through is there. We have lost aircraft before, and these have been investigated. They [the Investigative Board] can handle it. We have people who can determine what happened from beginning to end

The tragic incident remains under thorough investigation as Ghana mourns the loss of distinguished leaders and dedicated military officers.

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