Captain Paul Forjoe, Aircraft Accident Investigator and Head of Investigations at the Aircraft Investigations Bureau (AIB), Ghana, says the Z-9 Helicopter crash, which occurred on August 6, 2025, involved an airworthy aircraft but lacked additional safety enhancements.
Presenting details of the investigative findings to the media on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, Capt. Forjoe explained that safety enhancements such as terrain awareness, autopilot and advanced navigation systems, if present, would have improved situational awareness and reduced pilot workload.
“The additional safety equipment that the helicopter did not have were things like the helicopter terrain awareness system or the enhanced ground proximity warning system, advanced navigation with terrain mapping, an automatic flight control system, and I would say that this safety equipment would have enhanced situational awareness. For instance, it didn’t have an autopilot,” he noted.
He emphasized that such systems are standard in civil aviation and significantly reduce pilot workload, especially in challenging weather conditions.
According to him, the terrain awareness warning system is predictive, providing a clear picture of the situation and enabling pilots to see clearly and anticipate potential dangers.
“But the aircraft lacked additional safety enhancements required for the weather phenomenon over that terrain,” he added.
The findings revealed that as the Z-9 helicopter neared Obuasi en route to Brofoyedur, visibility worsened due to mist and low clouds, forcing the crew to enter Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) and switch from Visual Flight Rules (VFR) to Instrument Flight Rules (IFR).
“To the layman, it flew into the clouds because it could no longer stay away from the clouds and transitioned to IFR. What it means is they now transitioned from navigating using visual cues to navigation solely on the aircraft’s instruments,” he explained.
The crew therefore initiated a climb to pass over the terrain. However, without any change in power or pitch, the aircraft suddenly lost lift and altitude, resulting in the crash.
“The investigation determined that the accident was caused by a sudden loss of altitude and lift due to downdraft. This loss of altitude without change in power or pitch altitude is consistent with downdraft associated with changing environmental conditions over high terrain.”
“The findings further revealed limited national navigational capacity and capability for en route and remote area weather services.”
Meanwhile, Captain Paul Forjoe indicated that the crew were fully qualified, well-rested and medically fit with no evidence of fatigue or human error.
Additionally, he said the emergency response was very timely.
“The fact that these first responders managed to get to the site in about two hours was remarkable, because the terrain has very steep slopes. It was raining, it was slippery, so it wasn’t the easiest thing to do,” he said.
Recommendations
Captain Paul Forjoe made key recommendations, including modernizing the Ghana Air Force’s aircraft with terrain awareness warning systems, advanced navigation systems, cockpit voice and flight data recorders and Ground support equipment.
He also called on Ghana to invest in flight simulators for regular pilot training and improve crew preparedness for complex weather and terrain conditions.
The Aircraft Accident Investigator also called for the establishment of flight data and monitoring systems and the implementation of real-time aircraft tracking.
Additionally, he said the country must enhance national navigation and weather services by contracting certified aviation weather providers, developing en-route navigational aids, especially in remote areas and improving national capacity for weather services and terrain mapping.
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