A Volta River Aviation helicopter — already under scrutiny for a previous emergency landing — was forced to make yet another unscheduled landing on Monday morning, August 11, near Nkawkaw Ampekrom in the Eastern Region.
The aircraft, registered 9G-AFW, touched down close to the Nkawkaw bypass in the Kwahu West Municipality after developing mechanical problems mid-flight. Although all occupants escaped unharmed, the recurrence of faults on the same helicopter in less than a week has intensified concerns over maintenance standards and regulatory oversight in Ghana’s aviation industry.
The first emergency landing by 9G-AFW occurred on August 6 in the Central Region — the very same day a Ghana Armed Forces Z-9 military helicopter crashed in the Ashanti Region, killing eight high-profile government and military officials. That coincidence has fueled questions about the state of aircraft safety and operational readiness across both civilian and military fleets.
Aviation safety analysts warn that these back-to-back incidents reveal deeper structural issues in the country’s aviation oversight, including insufficient enforcement of maintenance schedules, weak inspection regimes, and aging aircraft still in operation.
“Two near-disasters and one fatal crash in less than a week should be a national wake-up call,” one former Civil Aviation Authority inspector told The Chronicle. “We cannot keep pushing luck with lives in the air.”
Pressure is now mounting on the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Transport to launch a full-scale technical audit of all commercial and state-operated aircraft, review maintenance records, and overhaul enforcement protocols before tragedy strikes again.
With public confidence in air travel at stake, stakeholders are calling for urgent reforms, including stricter penalties for non-compliance, mandatory pre-flight inspections, and a transparent public reporting system for aviation incidents.
If left unaddressed, critics warn, Ghana’s skies could become a “graveyard waiting to happen.”
