On the morning of August 6, 2025, a Ghana Air Force Z-9 helicopter running a scheduled flight from Accra to Obuasi crashed within the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region, killing all 8 other folks on board. The plane had 3 staff participants and 5 passengers, together with the Minister of Defence and his entourage.

It was once probably the most Air Force’s serviceable plane that have been utilized in more than a few assignments, together with clinical evacuations and load shipping. On the day of the incident, the staff not on time their departure from Accra because of deficient climate prerequisites throughout southern Ghana.

They waited till the elements advanced quite and in the end departed from Accra at 9:12 a.m. The climate at takeoff was once misty, with visibility ranging between 5 and 7 kilometres, and coffee clouds starting at about 700 toes above flooring stage.

The staff flew below Visual Flight Rules, a victory that permits pilots to navigate the usage of visible cues moderately than depending best on tools. Throughout the flight, they adjusted altitude to steer clear of patches of low clouds and deficient visibility.

As the helicopter moved north towards Obuasi, climate prerequisites deteriorated considerably. Eyewitnesses in cities reminiscent of Brofiedru and within the Dampia Forest Reserve house described the elements as foggy, with gentle rain and deficient visibility.

The visibility in some portions dropped to about 200 metres, which is dangerously low for visible navigation. The house additionally has rugged and hilly terrain this is recognized to create turbulent wind currents and downdrafts right through volatile climate.

At about 9:56 a.m., because the helicopter neared Obuasi, the staff encountered thick cloud and mist and entered what is known as Instrument Meteorological Conditions. This method they might now not see the bottom or the encompassing terrain and needed to rely totally on their cockpit tools to proceed flying.

They transitioned from Visual Flight Rules to Instrument Flight Rules. The cockpit voice recording captured the staff remarking that they might see top flooring under and believed they’d cleared it. However, best moments later, the plane unexpectedly misplaced altitude. There was once no signal of mechanical failure or lack of energy, however the helicopter descended hastily and struck the hilly forested house about six and a part miles from Obuasi at roughly 9:58 a.m.

Emergency groups reached the crash website online about two hours later regardless of the heavy rain and tough terrain. Investigators described the reaction as well timed, making an allowance for the steep slopes and slippery prerequisites that made get entry to extraordinarily difficult.

The have an effect on destroyed the plane totally and left no survivors. Subsequent restoration and technical research targeted at the plane’s upkeep, the situation of the staff, the elements, and the operational requirements of the Air Force.

The investigation established that the Z-9 helicopter was once airworthy on the time of the coincidence. It have been manufactured in 2012 and dropped at the Ghana Air Force in 2015. The plane reached its ten-year provider threshold in May 2025, however the producer authorized a ninety-day extension that was once legitimate till August 18, 2025.

Prior to the flight, it underwent a compulsory hundred-hour upkeep inspection, and each engineers and the captain signed it off as serviceable. Data retrieved from the flight recorder showed that each one main methods had been functioning generally earlier than have an effect on.

Despite being airworthy, the plane lacked some complex protection methods that may have helped the pilots organize the location higher in deficient climate. These integrated a Terrain Awareness and Warning System, a complicated autopilot or computerized flight keep watch over gadget, and enhanced terrain-mapping navigation gear.

The absence of those security measures intended that the pilots needed to manually keep watch over the helicopter all the time, expanding their workload and proscribing situational consciousness right through tool flying. The investigators strongly beneficial that long run Air Force plane be provided with such methods to make stronger flight protection.

The flight staff had been discovered to be competent, well-trained, and medically are compatible. The captain held a inexperienced tool ranking, which was once the perfect stage to be had inside the Ghana Air Force. He was once an skilled pilot who had flown more than one assignments at the similar helicopter.

The co-pilot had received his FAA business and instrument-rated license from the Bristol Academy in Florida in April 2023. Medical and mental information confirmed no indicators of fatigue, sickness, or medicine use that may have affected their efficiency. Both pilots had rested for over twenty-four hours earlier than the flight, which exceeded the Air Force’s relaxation requirement.

The investigation discovered no proof of engine failure, gasoline exhaustion, or upkeep lapses. The research of the flight knowledge recorder, cockpit voice recorder, radar data, and climate knowledge indicated that the crash resulted from a mixture of deficient climate and environmental prerequisites over the mountainous terrain close to Obuasi. The helicopter unexpectedly misplaced altitude and raise because it flew via sturdy downward air currents referred to as downdrafts.

A downdraft is a column of air that strikes hastily downward, particularly in rugged spaces the place heat and wet air collides with cooler air layers. When this occurs, even an plane with standard energy can also be compelled downward quicker than it might probably climb.

The investigation concluded that the direct explanation for the coincidence was once a unexpected lack of altitude and raise because of downdraft. The flight knowledge confirmed that the lack of altitude took place with none trade in engine energy or keep watch over enter from the pilots, confirming that it was once an exterior environmental issue moderately than a mechanical or human error. The downdraft was once in step with converting atmospheric prerequisites over the top terrain of the Dampia Forest Reserve, the place the elements had created volatile air currents.

Disclaimer: The data supplied this is primarily based solely at the findings and main points introduced within the legitimate investigative document of the Z-9 helicopter crash.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by means of Readers and Contributors in this platform don’t essentially constitute the perspectives or coverage of Multimedia Group Limited.