Helicopter Crash: Black box retrieved for investigation

The flight data recorder – also referred to as the black box – of the French-manufactured helicopter that crashed 20 nautical miles south of Takoradi last Thursday has been retrieved to aid investigations.

Already, the helicopter’s manufacturers in France have contacted the Director General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to help in coordinating with an investigation committee to be set up by the Minister of Transport in unraveling the cause of the accident.

In an interview on TV3’s News 360 on Saturday, May 10, Albert Taylor, the Director of Air Traffic at GCAA, said the French have also promised to retrieve data on the recorder.

Last Thursday's accident led to the loss of three lives with four seriously injured. One more passenger has since been missing.

“Those three people who died have been identified and their families informed accordingly,” Mr. Taylor told TV3’s Kenneth Osei Ampofo.

He said one of the survivors was in a critical condition and has been sent to the 37 Military Hospital for surgery “and our information is that he is doing very well.”

Mr. Taylor said the search team is not leaving any stone unturned in the search for the missing passenger, who has been identified as Walter Agorti-Mevor, a Ghanaian Mud Engineer with MI Swaco.

Helicopters, vessels and an underwater vehicle have been deployed in search of Mr. Agorti-Mevor, said Mr. Taylor.