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GHANA ARMY CONFIRMS CHOPPER CRASH
Accra, Jan 14, Ghanadot.com -The Ghana Armed Forces on
Saturday confirmed that its Mi-17 helicopter carrying the
remains of late Air Marshall Michael Akuoko Otu on Friday
crashed at Adukrom in the Akwapem hills of the Eastern
Region.
The Mi-17 helicopter is one of four newly acquired by the
State.
The Army Command said it had dispatched a preliminary
investigation team to determine the probable cause of the
accident, which many observers believe was due to the harsh
dry hazy harmattan weather the country experiences from late
November to March each year.
According to Colonel E.W.K. Nibo, Ghana Army Director of
Public Relations all the 13 passengers and five crew members
on board escaped unhurt.
Eyewitnesses to the unfortunate accident said the helicopter
was almost landing with the casket containing the remains of
the late military officer.
However a cloud of rising dust from the landing site may
have informed the pilot to make a short detour, but as the
helicopter rose, its rotor hit a tree, then ripped off the
roof of a church building before hitting a
telecommunications antennae.
It went down after hitting the antennae but luckily for all
on board, a door to the rear of the helicopter fell open and
enabled them to escape before it was engulfed in an ensuing
blaze that consumed he coffin too.
The late Otu’s final funeral rites was due at the Bethel
Presbyterian Church at Adukrom on Saturday after the
military command had held a funeral service at the Methodist
Presbyterian Church, Burma Camp on Friday.
The family proceeded with the funeral collecting the ashes
of the late Otu for burial.
The late Michael Akuako Otu was recruited into the Army in
1943. He started his career in the Gold Coast Army. He was
part of the Ghanaian contingent who
fought in the Second World War on
the allies side against Germany.
Air Marshal Otu was in England in 1953 for officers training
where he became an assistant to the Queen of England, Queen
Elizabeth II and escorted her during her visit to Ghana in
1961.
He later joined the Ghana Air Force where he rose through
the ranks to become the second Chief of Defence Staff after
Air Commodore De Graft Hayford who was the first Air Force
Officer to head the Armed Forces, a position usually
occupied by personnel from the Army.
Air Marshal Otu retired from the Air Force in 1971, having
served 28 years with the armed forces.
He died on October 8, 2006 at the age of 81 and was survived
by five children.
Ghanadot.com
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