Allied Air Cargo plane crashes 12 people at El-Wak

Ghana's Minister of Transport, Collins Dauda has set up a five member committee chaired by Captain Alex Grant Sam to probe the June 2 Allied Air Cargo Boeing 727 200 crash landing at Kotoka Airport in Accra. It is to establish among others the cause of the June 2nd crash of Nigerian plane, the extent of the damage and also the cause of the accident that claimed twelve lives. Officially ten persons were reported dead but some sections of the media are challenging the number saying twelve died. The probe is mandated by aviation regulations. What is not clear yet is the accuracy of the probe report and appropriateness of the probe recommendations to come out of the probe. Africa is described by aviation experts as the graveyard for outdated planes. This is often compounded by lack of adherence to strict aviation regulations by authorities thereby compromising air safety. Perhaps Ghana has been spared such air crashes due to the paucity of airlines plying her skies but with her economy expanding especially among the middle class, this will change and the real challenge confronting the country will come to the fore.
Disaster hit the Allied Air Cargo Boeing 727 200 plane when it crash landed at Accra's Kotoka International Airport on Saturday night after overshooting the runway and slamming into a bus loaded with passengers on nearby El-Wak street thereby killing all 12 people on board instantly on impact. So far eight of the twelve deceased have been identified. Officials of Ghana Airport Company, managers of the airport said preliminary investigations have revealed that the Nigerian cargo jet landed in a pool of water during heavy rains before overshooting the runway.

The Boeing 727 200 craft first smashed through the  fence wall perimeter that runs around the airport before hitting the bus. A spokesman for the Ghana Fire Service, Billy Anaglate,  said that all 10 passengers in the bus were killed on impact. The plane's four crew members appear to have survived the crash and were rushed to nearby Airport Clinic for treatment.

Wreckage of cargo liner Allied Air Cargo

The Allied Air Cargo plane was travelling from Nigeria to Ghana. It was carrying general goods including textiles, perfumes and clothing from Nigeria to the Ivory Coast via Accra. At the landing it was short of the boundary, and it went off onto the road side. It crashed into a bus that was bound for Accra after the plane broke the barrier and went onto the road and hit the vehicle and unfortunately in the vehicle everyone ended up dying. Ambulances, police and military security quickly cordoned off the neighborhood where the plane crashed. The area is near to El-Wak Sports Stadium and Hajj Village, where Muslims in the country stay before they journey to Mecca.

Local television stations showed images of the plane lying across a road with parts of its nose, wing and undercarriage torn off. The flight crew were shown jumped off and received help from emergency responders. All four crew, including two pilots survived the crash. There was also a badly mangled minivan and ten bodies next to the crashed plane. Ghana's Vice President John Dramani Mahama later visited the scene of the crash and expressed the government condolences to the family of the victims. He urged all to exercise restraint while investigation is carried out to determine the cause of the crash.

Ghana with a population of about 25 million has not had a major airplane crash in recent years. Saturday's crash was the first in decades in Ghana whose airspace has a fairly high safety record, compared with other countries in the West Africa region. The last air emergency the country had was in June 2006, when a TAAG Linhas Aereas De Angola flight to Sao Tome hit birds during takeoff. The plane landed safely and none of the 28 people onboard were injured. According to Ghana Airport Company operations at the airport remained normal with all flights on schedule as two aeroplanes took minutes after the incident. 
The accident however raises concern about reasonableness of allowing new high rising buildings in the area adjacent the airport called Airport City as well as the sitting of the headquarters of a church close to the flight path of the airport. Some people joke that one day God may get tired, go to sleep and the Prayer Cathedral could become another Ground Zero. Maybe, and just maybe radical decision to relocate the Accra Airport about 18 kilometres away from the built-up and heavily encroached present site must be made without wasting anymore time.