Executive Director of the Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peace Building, Adib Saani, has called on the government to treat military aviation safety as a national security priority, warning that aviation failures involving senior state officials could threaten the continuity of government.

He said military aircraft are frequently used to transport the President, ministers, Members of Parliament, senior security officials and commanders of the Ghana Armed Forces, making aircraft airworthiness, maintenance, weather assessment and operational risk management critical national security concerns.

Mr Saani, who is also a security analyst, made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency as the country marked the August 6, 2026, military helicopter crash at Adansi Akrofuom in the Ashanti Region.

The Ghana Armed Forces Z-9EH military helicopter departed Accra at 9:12 a.m. for Obuasi but crashed in the general area of Siaman, near Adansi Akrofuom, killing all eight people on board.

The victims included Defence Minister Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah; Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Alhaji Dr Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed; Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Muniru Mohammed; former Ashanti Regional Minister and NDC Vice Chairman Dr Samuel Sarpong; and former parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye.

Three Ghana Air Force personnel — Squadron Leader Peter Baafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manaen Twum Ampadu and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah — also died in the crash.

President John Dramani Mahama subsequently established an Investigative Board of Inquiry to determine the cause of the accident, with the flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders retrieved as part of the investigation.

The investigation attributed the accident to a sudden loss of altitude and lift caused by a downdraft associated with changing environmental conditions over high terrain.

Mr Saani said the tragedy should provide an opportunity for Ghana to undertake a broader review of its military aviation safety protocols and introduce measures to minimise avoidable risks.

Avoid putting key officials on same aircraft

Among the lessons from the crash, he said, was the need to reconsider the practice of transporting several strategically important government and security officials on the same aircraft.

According to him, the simultaneous loss of ministers, senior security officials and other critical state personnel could have implications beyond the immediate loss of lives and potentially affect the continuity of government.

“In some circumstances, mission-essential officials should be separated across aircraft or movements,” he said.

He urged the government to review protocols governing the movement of ministers, senior national security officials and other mission-essential personnel, particularly during major national events when demand for air travel is high.

Strengthen weather intelligence

Mr Saani also called for stronger collaboration among the Ghana Airports Company Limited, security agencies and the Ghana Meteorological Agency to improve weather intelligence and flight-risk assessments.

He said missions involving difficult terrain and rapidly changing weather conditions should have clear guidelines for postponing, rerouting or aborting flights where safety cannot be guaranteed.

He stressed that pilots must also be empowered to exercise their professional judgement and decline or discontinue missions they consider unsafe without political, institutional or personal pressure.

“When a pilot says, ‘Look, I think this is it, so I can’t go,’ the commander somewhere should not tell him to go,” he said, adding that such discretion was particularly important during peacetime operations.

Review military aircraft capabilities

The security analyst further called for an assessment of the age, capability and suitability of Ghana's military aviation fleet for the missions it undertakes.

He said any modernisation programme should ensure military aircraft have appropriate avionics, terrain-awareness systems, navigation technology, weather-detection capabilities and other safety systems suited to their operational environments.

However, Mr Saani cautioned that acquiring newer aircraft alone would not address the challenges.

He called for rigorous preventive maintenance, reliable spare-parts supply chains, appropriately trained engineers, proper maintenance documentation and independent compliance checks.

According to him, weaknesses in maintenance documentation and compliance systems could compromise aviation safety even when relatively modern aircraft are available.

Implement crash investigation recommendations

Mr Saani also stressed that the value of investigations into aviation accidents ultimately depended on whether their recommendations were implemented.

While acknowledging that national security considerations could limit the amount of information released publicly, he said principal findings and recommendations should be communicated where possible to promote accountability and public confidence.

“An accident investigation has little value if its recommendations disappear in the archives and they gather dust,” he said.

He therefore urged relevant state institutions to ensure that lessons from the August 6 tragedy are translated into concrete improvements in Ghana's military aviation safety regime.

Mr Saani also expressed condolences to the families of the eight victims, describing the death of Alhaji Murtala Mohammed, whom he considered a “big brother” and more than a friend, as particularly painful.

He urged Ghanaians to continue remembering the victims and supporting their families.