BY Issah Olegor
The aviation sector has been hit by yet another safety scare after two helicopters were forced to make emergency landings within a 24-hour period due to adverse weather conditions, raising fresh concerns over flight safety in the country’s airspace.
The latest incident occurred in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region on Tuesday morning, when a helicopter belonging to International Aircraft Services, with registration number AS 365N3, made an unexpected landing at Adwafo.
The chopper, carrying four crew members, was flying from Accra to Chirano Mines but was forced to divert and land in a community park after encountering poor visibility.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Adansi Akrofuom, Gariba Mohammed Mustapha, said he rushed to the scene upon receiving an emergency call.
“The crew told me they had to land because of bad weather. My immediate concern was the tragic helicopter crash last week in our district, which killed eight people, including two Ministers of State,” he said.
Residents described moments of fear as the helicopter circled in search of a safe landing spot.
Many thought history was about to repeat itself after the August 6 disaster that claimed the lives of Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah, Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, three government officials, and three crew members in the same district.
This latest emergency came less than a day after another helicopter landing incident in Nkawkaw, Eastern Region.
On Monday morning, a Volta River Aviation helicopter with registration number 9G-AFW, travelling from Accra to Kumasi, was forced to land near the Nkawkaw bypass for the same reason—poor visibility caused by harsh weather. Both the pilot and crew escaped unhurt.
These incidents add to a troubling chain of weather-related aviation events in recent days.
On August 6, separate helicopter carrying four passengers was also forced to make an emergency landing at Presby School Park in Ajumako Kokoben in the Central Region, again due to bad weather.
Aviation safety experts have pointed to the unpredictable weather patterns during this period as a growing risk to low-altitude flights, especially helicopters.
The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is expected to review flight protocols and strengthen pre-flight weather assessments to reduce such occurrences.
