BRIEF CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
THE PROBLEM- 22 JULY1970– “The civil helicopter, with 1 crew and 3 passengers (unnamed), was returning from the Signal Oil rig off the coast of Saltpond to Kotoka International Airport when the pilot experienced excessive vibration which he took to be engine trouble. Per the report summary, “precautionary attempts were made to land on the coast without success- due to technical failure of the transmission gearbox which occurred, resulting in complete loss of control of the helicopter with fatal results to the pilot and passengers. The helicopter was wrecked but there was no fire.” What could be of vital to our instant crash of 6th August 2025 (some 55 years apart), as told by Captain Veronica Adzo Arhin (Ghana Navy), the Acting Director General, Public Relations, GAF, of the Z-9 aircraft and the crew, are that they lost radar and communications contacts- not long after taking off?
Linking the above dilemmas from the other unestablished local sources at Obuase and/or where the aircraft actually crashed, and burning all the 8 onboard, almost to ashes, are the suggestions that the pilot- Squadron Anala (GAF), like Captain Peter John Faid, referred to in this paper, attempted too, to have a landing space but what happened and why couldn’t’ he? Of course, these could be some of the preliminary compelling questions confronting our investigators apart from those information likely to offer leads from the found black box.
With Caveats, The OmanbaPa picks on Captain Faid (unedited & unverified)
“Hello,
Whilst trying to research the flying career of my late father, Peter Faid, I came across references to him in the PPRuNe RAF Sharjah forum. I made a post asking if anyone had more information on my father, and a forum member suggested I should make a post in the Rotorheads forum too.
I was only 5 years old when my father died in a helicopter crash in Ghana in 1970, and my mother Ann (who died a few years ago) told me very little about him. I hope you do not mind me posting to your forum – but I would be very grateful for any help or information about my father and his flying career, whether in the RAF or with Bristows.
Many thanks
Emma Faid
(daughter of the late Peter John Faid)
reponse
“Hello Emma,
I can’t say I knew your father well, but I did work with him very briefly when he was with Bristow at Sunderland in 1966, yes, 1966. He was flying the Wessex on an offshore suport contract. Some of the other crew there at that time were Tony English, Larry Coram, John French, John Hooper, George Siddle (famous for cycling everywhere he needed to go) and a couple of Danish engineers who I can’t put names to at the moment.
The context in which I remember your father was a discussion regarding the early Decca Navigator equipment on the Wessex, if I remenber correctly it was one of theose silly ‘yes you can, no you can’t’ discussions.
The crash in which he died become a turning point in the developement of the particular helicopter type and lead to a major redesign of the main transmission. I understand the legal ramnifcations went on for quite some time.” https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/416785-do-you-remember-peter-faid.html”
NOTES- “Peter John Fair was the pilot of a Bristow Helicopters Agusta-Bell 206A Jet Ranger with the registration G-AVSV. Tragically, he was fatally injured in a crash near Fetteh Gomoah, Ghana, on July 22, 1970”.
RECENT CRASH- MISSION & POLICY BACKGROUND/GALAMSEY: STATE/PARTISAN
WHAT WAS NPP’S ILLEGAL MINING POLICY?
The Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) illegal mining (galamsey) policy was codenamed: “Operation Vanguard,” launched in 2017. It aimed at “curbing the activities of illegal miners in three of the most affected regions: Ashanti, Eastern, and Western. It involved deploying a joint military and police force to combat illegal mining and its associated environmental damage.” Galamseyers arrested, excavators- seized, burnt, stole, flew etc. How is this differentiated from the Mahama-led NDC’s initiative?
NDC’s Promise- Promote Responsible Mining for Sustainable Development
thus- We will:
1. Place a ban on new mining activities in forest reserves.
2. Amend the Mineral and Mining Law to impose stiffer punishment on mining in water bodies.
3. Decentralise regulatory and licensing processes for artisanal miners.
4. Implement a ‘Tree for Life’ reforestation policy and a Blue Water Initiative to heal and harness the environment by turning areas degraded by illegal mining into economic and ecological recovery hubs.
5. Resource the geological survey department to prioritise geological investigation as part of a broader strategy to increase Ghana’s stake in its extractive industry.
6. Set up a novel Ghana Gold Board (GOLDBOD) to regulate the small-scale mining sector. The board will restructure the small-scale mining sector by:
• Provide mining support services to the industry, including concession viability, health, safety and efficiency in mining operations, equipment financing, research and standardisation, gold recovery optimisation, and postmining and land reclamation services.
• Compel small-scale miners to undertake skills training in land reclamation techniques as a required component of their operations to minimise their adverse environmental impacts.
• Place restrictions on the export of unrefined gold produced by small-scale mining companies in the medium term.
• Ensure that the Bank of Ghana’s gold purchasing programme will be backed by a metal leveraging programme with international bullion holders.(https://manifesto.johnmahama.org/manifesto/mining)
From the information immediately above, it could be concluded that there are no standardised and/or agreed state policy on the fight against illegal mining common to the main political parties. hence, the strong promise that “the next NDC government will wage a ruthless war against the illegal mining menace and roll out an aggressive programme to reclaim our polluted water bodies, degraded lands and devastated forest reserves.” It was yes, some of these reasons why the Obuase air travel and the crash.
OUR ADVOCACY & REQUEST
Help and Support JusticeGhana Group, with any further/additional information you have with reference to the 22 July civil aircraft crash victims- especially those whose names are missing on our research tray. Not forgetting those who might have suffered in any shape or form as the result of the Gomoah Fetteh tragedy. (The OmanbaPa Research Group@JusticeGhana)
Reference
BBC, https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/cqle6xr4qzzo
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