The Majority leader in Parliament Hon. Cletus Avoka and the flagbearer of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr. Abu Sakara escaped death this morning when an ANTRAK Air plane 9G AAB in which they were onboard developed a technical fault. The fault was detected by the technical team of the operators of the airline when it was about to take to air at the Tamale Airport.
According to eye witnesses, the passengers onboard the airliner bound for Accra from Tamale airport expressed fears when the technical team announced the detection of the fault and urged them to stay calm. The majority leader Hon. Avoka told newsmen after all the passengers got off from the plane safely that it will have been disastrous if the plane had taken to air before the fault was detected.
He said “We just escaped death” and that the detection of the fault before the plane was airborne was Godly intervention. Mr. Avoka raised issues about safety and poor maintenance culture in the country’s transport system and advised the operators of airlines in the country to cultivate regular maintenance culture.
The Majority leader and CPP flag bearer though could not tell the exact cause of the problem they both cautioned the operators of the airline to take regular maintenance seriously to avoid incidence of plane crash.
Some passengers told Zaa Radio news team that they were disappointed in the operators of the airline. They also blamed the fault on the lack of maintenance and say this will affect the patronage of the airline if nothing is done about it. Some of the passengers however, abandoned Antrak Air to join the Starbow flight to Accra.
Efforts by Zaa Radio news team to speak to the personnel of Antrak Airline and Airport officials failed as they both refused to comment on the incident.
The Antrak airplane 9G AAB which developed the fault is a 42-seater airplane produce by the Avions de Transport Regional, a French company and are among the first standard passenger planes made by this group in the 1980s. Antrak Air added this plane to its fleet in 2008 to increase domestic and international routes to meet the increasing demand for air transport in Ghana.
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