Captain Paul Forjoe, a member of the investigative committee probing the tragic military helicopter crash on August 6, has revealed that the crash report recommends that the Ghana Armed Forces acquire modern helicopters and a training simulator.
According to the investigative committee report, the Air Force must invest in simulators for recurrent pilot training.
He further added that Ghana contracts certified aviation weather providers and develops en route navigational aids, especially in remote areas.
Speaking during the official presentation of the findings, Captain Forjoe detailed, “We have recommended that the Air Force acquire modern aircraft with terrain avoidance warning systems and modern navigation systems”.
“The aircraft should also have cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders, which are the audio-visual capable types.”
Captain Forjoe added that the Air Force should consider establishing flight data monitoring that will allow better real-time oversight of aircraft operations.
“The Air Force should seriously consider establishing flight data monitoring and en route tracking systems,” he explained.
Also, Captain (Rtd) Paul Forjoe, a retired pilot and a senior aviation engineer with the Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIB), revealed that the August 6, 2025, military helicopter crash was caused by a sudden altitude change.
According to the investigative committee, the tragedy was caused by a sudden loss of altitude and lift resulting from a powerful downdraft.
Captain (Rtd) Paul Forjoe detailed, “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.
Also, Captain (Rtd) Paul Forjoe noted that the Helicopter crash response was timely despite the difficult terrain.
“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,” he said.
“It was raining, it was slippery, so it wasn’t the easiest thing to do… we can confidently say the emergency response was very timely.”
Additionally, he revealed that the military helicopter was airworthy but lacked key safety equipment.
“The aircraft was declared serviceable and signed off by the pilot, who was fully competent to operate it,” Captain Forjoe added.