No military personnel was injured or died in Kumbugu helicopter emergency landing - Ghana Armed Forces

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) says all the four crew members and four other military personnel onboard a helicopter that had an emergency landing in Kumbugu last Thursday were successfully recovered.

Colonel E. Aggrey-Quashie, the GAF PRO said there were no fatalities nor injuries and within minutes of the landing, another Ghana Air Force helicopter was there to recover everything.

“There were no civilians onboard and no damage nor injuries to property and people on the ground. The landing site has since been secured and efforts are underway to recover the aircraft,” he said in a statement.

According to him, the Kumbungu District Chief Executive and the local community are also providing the necessary assistance to the recovery team.

On Thursday at about 1745 hours, a Ghana Air Force Z9-EH Helicopter with tail number GHF 630 performed an emergency landing in a field about 3 Km southwest of Ganvuliga village.

The location is in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region, and approximately 32 Km west of the Tamale Airport.

The crew landed after observing a malfunction of the tail rotor system, which provides anti-torque and directional control to the aircraft.

The incident happened while the crew were returning from Wa to Tamale.

According to Col Quarshie, “a Preliminary Investigation Team (PIT) has been constituted and is currently on-site to conduct a full assessment of the damage to the aircraft to allow recovery to Air Force Base, Tamale.

“The manufacturers of the aircraft, China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) based in China, and their local representatives, have been informed of the incident and are providing all the necessary technical support.”

The aircraft is one of four helicopters that were delivered to the Ghana Air Force in 2015.

The crew are commended for their quick judgement and timely intervention for flying the helicopter to a safe emergency landing.

The Ghana Armed Forces assured the general public that the military is still operational and its activities have in no way been affected by this incident. The morale of personnel is high and normal activities are ongoing.