The Statesman

The Statesman in a front page story headlined: "Surcharge Rawlings - Aviation expert", says an aviation expert has suggested that President Jerry Rawlings should be surcharged with the cost of repairs of the Fokker F28 aircraft now abandoned somewhere in the United States.

The paper says in an exclusive interview, the aviation expert stated that "President Rawlings who still clings to the title of a junior officer of the Ghana Airforce, should have known better".

According to the paper the expert explained that in theory, an aircraft can go anywhere in the world provided there is runway, refuelling facilities and maintenance crew, but then the manufacturers of aircraft have separated them into short range, medium range and long distance designs to fit the different segments of the aviation market.

Quoting the aviation expert the Statesman says the Fokker F28, is in the short range category, so to use it as a long range aircraft is to court trouble. GRi