The August 6, 2025, helicopter crash that claimed 8 lives was caused by a sudden and powerful downdraft, the Aircraft Accident & Incident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), has stated.
This technical cause was announced by Captain Paul Fordjoe, an investigator and retired pilot with the AAIB, at a briefing at the Jubilee House today, Tuesday, November 11, 2025.
“The investigation determined that the accident was caused by the sudden loss of altitude and lift due to downdraft,” Captain Fordjoe stated.
The final finding closes the critical technical chapter on the tragedy, focusing on the volatile environmental forces at play over high terrain.
Downdraft is a strong current of air that moves vertically downward, and can rapidly overpower a helicopter’s rotors to drastically reduce the effective lift being generated. The report clarified that this sudden aerodynamic failure occurred without any corresponding pilot error or mechanical failure:
“This loss of altitude without change in power or pitch attitude is consistent with downdraft associated with changing environmental conditions over high terrain,” he added.
The scenario, according to the experts, indicates that the pilot even maintained the correct power and control inputs (pitch altitude) at the time, the strong downward current however, pushed the helicopter out of the sky, leading to the fatal accident.
The establishment of the accident being caused by adverse weather phenomena, per the technical finding, which confirms that the focus now shifts from mechanical failure or human error.
The loss of the eight lives underscores the inherent risks associated with aviation over mountainous or highly variable terrain, particularly where weather can shift suddenly.
Background
On August 6, 2025, a Ghana Air Force Harbin Z-9 helicopter carrying eight people to an event about fighting illegal mining crashed into a forested mountainside in the Ashanti region, killing all eight people on board.
Among the dead were Ghana’s Defence Minister Dr. Edward Kwadwo Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed.
The rest were acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Limuna Mohammed Muniru, Vice Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Samuel Sarpong, former parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye, Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Twum Ampadu and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
According to the Ghana Armed Forces, the helicopter took off from the Kotoka International Airport in Accra at 9:12 a.m., heading northwest into the interior toward the gold-mining area at the Obuasi Black Park in Obuasi, when it went off the radar.
The helicopter’s wreckage was found later, with all of the victims burnt beyond recognition in a post-crash fire.
Footage of the crash site showed debris on fire in a forest as people circled around to help. The crash was one of Ghana’s worst air disasters in more than a decade.
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