The Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation Bureau (AIB) Ghana has initiated steps to strengthen collaboration with the Ghana Armed Forces as part of efforts to enhance aviation safety and improve coordination in aircraft accident investigations.
The move formed the focus of a familiarisation visit by a delegation from AIB Ghana to the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), Lieutenant General William Agyapong, last Thursday.
The AIB Ghana delegation, led by the Commissioner, Mr John Wumborti, engaged the leadership of the Ghana Armed Forces to discuss areas of cooperation, including information sharing, training and the signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to support aviation accident investigations.
Speaking during the engagement, Captain Paul Forjoe of AIB Ghana explained that the Bureau’s core mandate is to promote aviation safety by investigating aircraft accidents and incidents to identify their causes and prevent recurrence.
According to him, AIB Ghana focuses on learning lessons from aviation occurrences rather than assigning blame, in line with international best practices.
“Our focus is to make sure that the skies are safe. We investigate accidents and incidents to learn lessons from them and come up with measures to ensure that such occurrences do not happen again,” he stated.
Captain Forjoe noted that collaboration with key stakeholders, particularly the military, was crucial to the Bureau’s work since the Ghana Armed Forces often serve as first responders during aviation emergencies.
He said international aviation standards require AIB Ghana to establish formal cooperation frameworks with relevant national institutions, including the armed forces.
“In line with international best practice, we are expected to have Memoranda of Understanding with the security services.”
“The military plays a critical role because of the nature of your operations and your capacity to respond during emergencies,” he explained.
He further indicated that such agreements would also allow for secondment arrangements, where trained military personnel could work temporarily with AIB Ghana to gain practical investigative experience while contributing their expertise.
Responding to the visit, Lieutenant General William Agyapong welcomed the initiative and reaffirmed the Ghana Armed Forces’ readiness to collaborate with AIB Ghana.
He commended the Bureau for the professional manner in which it handled a recent military aviation accident investigation, noting that the process helped calm public concerns and provided valuable lessons for the armed forces.
“I read a lot about aviation accident investigations during that period, and I realised that these investigations are not meant to assign blame but to identify the causes and prevent future occurrences. That approach was very impressive,” he said.
The CDS also expressed the military’s willingness to explore secondment opportunities and other areas of collaboration that would strengthen capacity and operational effectiveness.
Commissioner of AIB Ghana, Mr John Wumborti, also used the occasion to highlight ongoing efforts to build investigative capacity within the Bureau through international training partnerships.
He disclosed that AIB Ghana is working with Cranfield University in the United Kingdom to organise specialised training for aviation accident investigators later this year.
According to him, the training programme will include officers from the Ghana Armed Forces to enhance knowledge sharing and strengthen cooperation between civil aviation investigators and military personnel.
The visit forms part of AIB Ghana’s broader strategy to build strong institutional partnerships aimed at enhancing aviation safety and protecting lives within Ghana’s airspace.