The military helicopter crash on August 6, 2025, was caused by a sudden loss of lift and altitude due to a strong downdraft, according to the investigating team that looked into the incident.
Captain (Rtd) Paul Forjoe, a committee member, presented the results at a public briefing on Tuesday, November 11, explaining that the aircraft’s deadly descent was caused by sudden changes in the environment while flying over high terrain.
“The investigation determined that the accident was caused by the sudden loss of altitude and lift due to downdraft.
“This loss of altitude without a change in power or pitch altitude is consistent with a downdraft associated with changing environmental conditions over high terrain,” Captain Forjoe stated.
The committee, led by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Acting Minister for Defense, was entrusted with figuring out what caused the crash and suggesting how to avoid it. Technical, operational, and environmental elements that led to the accident were emphasized in its final report.
The Ghana Air Force’s Harbin Z-9EH military helicopter (tail number GHF 631) was involved in the collision. On an anti-illegal mining operation, the aircraft took off from Accra at approximately 9:12 a.m. for Obuasi. However, it lost radar contact before landing in the Ashanti Region’s Adansi Akrofuom District.
All eight passengers and crew on board perished, including senior government officials and military officers such as Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Minister for Defence, and Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Minister for Environment, Science and Technology.