The Ghana Gas Company has assured residents of Bonsukrom in the Western region and the company's operational staff to remain calm, indicating that the emergency landing incident of the Air Force helicopter would not affect their operations.
An amateur video shared on X (formerly Twitter)
showed the helicopter hovering over the area for some time in an attempt to
find a suitable site for an emergency landing, but it lost its balance and
crashed into nearby trees.
A statement from Ghana Gas dated Tuesday, March 19,
and signed by the Head of Corporate Communications, Ernest Kofi Owusu-Bempah
Bonsu said, “The Ghana Airforce emergency response was activated earlier today
during a routine inspection of our onshore and offshore gas pipeline right of
way”.
The
statement added that “on board were 14 Ghana Gas personnel, 6 Airforce crew
members and 1 other service provider”.
According to the company, the emergency landing
occurred as a result of bad weather conditions.
JUST IN:🚨A military helicopter with 14 passengers on board had a suspected emergency landing at Bonsukrom in Agona Nkwanta. #TV3GH pic.twitter.com/Py0QowBI9y
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) March 19, 2024
It, however, stressed that “all passengers on board
have been accounted for and there were no fatalities. However, crew members are
currently undergoing routine medical checkup”.
“While
assuring members of the public and our operational staff at Atuabo to remain
calm, we want to assure the general public that the incident will not affect
our operations”, the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) in a separate
statement on the incident confirmed that a Ghana Air Force helicopter with
registration number GHF 696 at about 1230 hours on Tuesday 19 March 2024 made
an emergency landing within the general areas of Bonsukrom near Agona Nkwanta
in the Western Region.
The GAF said, “The helicopter, which
had on board 21 passengers made up of staff of the Ghana National Gas Company
and aircrew, was conducting routine offshore powerline inspections of the
Atuabo gas plant when the incident occurred.
“All
passengers on board have been accounted for and there were no fatalities,” the
statement added.
According to reports, this incident drew a large
gathering of residents to the spot.
However, security forces attempted to keep the crowd
at bay while passengers were transported to the hospital for treatment.
One of the injured is being sent to
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for emergency medical care, according to reports.
Find the Ghana Gas statement below:
No comments