Nigerian cargo plane crash-lands in Ghana

A Nigerian cargo jet, Allied Air yesterday 2nd June clash landed in Accra at 1900GMT and rammed through the airport fence smashing a taxi cab and a 207 bus killing 10 passengers on board. The Boeing 727-200 took off from Lagos in Nigeria and failed to stop at the end of the runway. The police force and the military cordon off the place to prevent the teaming crowd which thronged the place when they heard the laud noise of the crash. Briefing the President who visited the scene of the crash, Doreen Owusu Fianko, Managing Director of Ghana Airports Company said, ”What we know for now is that it was raining at the time and the plane landed in a pool of water and that created some challenges to the pilot.”

Doreen also informed the President that an Emergency Operational Centre was activated immediately after the crash and had been working hard since then. The plane, according to Doreen, was carrying general goods including textiles, perfumes and clothing from Nigeria to the Ivory Coast via Accra. The Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Collins Dauda has inaugurated a five-member Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee to look into circumstances leading to the crash.
Established in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation requirements and the Ghana Civil Aviation Act 678 of 2004, the committee was headed by Captain Alec Grant Sam, who was one of the first Ghanaian pilots to be trained.
The other members includes Mr Ben Bouto-former Director of Safety Regulation of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, Mr Ben Sakpaku-former Deputy Director, Safety Regulation, Mr Eric Ewusi of the Safety Regulation Department and Mr Kenneth Kofi Kwawukume-former Deputy Director, Air Traffic Services.

wpid-plane1op1The committee is expected within 30 days to establish the cause of the accident, determine the extent of fatalities and injuries, losses or damage to property as well as other relevant issues concerning the incident and to make recommendations to forestall future occurrences. Meanwhile the pilot and a crew of 4 have survived the crash and are responding to treatment at the Airport Clinic.