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Former President of the Republic of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, has shared a harrowing personal experience of a near-fatal aviation incident, following the recent tragic helicopter crash in the Sahara Desert.
He revealed that the incident occurred during an official visit to Libya, while travelling with an entourage of 12 to 16 people from Tripoli to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.
Speaking in an interview with Angel TV, Kufuor recounted the tense moments that nearly cost him his life.
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I remember that sometime in 2007, had it not been for God’s intervention, I would have been involved in a plane crash over the Sahara Desert.
According to him, the aircraft, which had just departed after his meeting with the late Muammar Gaddafi, suddenly struggled to gain altitude.
All of a sudden, over the desert, the plane could not ascend. It had become heavy, and for almost 30 minutes, it refused to gain altitude. When you looked down, all you could see was the desert. Eeeii! What was about to happen to us here?
He reflected.
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To heighten the tension, there was complete silence from the cockpit.
The pilot remained silent, not communicating anything to us
Kufuor remarked, describing the unsettling atmosphere onboard.
The situation worsened when passengers noticed flight attendants hastily moving luggage towards their seats, fuelling fears among those onboard.
In a decisive move, the pilot diverted the aircraft toward the Mediterranean Sea in an effort to maintain safety.
The plane managed to manoeuvre and made a turn to align over the Mediterranean Sea, although it was still struggling to fly at a higher altitude for nearly an hour before we finally landed in Tripoli
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Kufuor explained.
Upon landing, the urgency of the situation became evident.
As we were landing, we noticed fire tenders and security vehicles speeding across the airport tarmac. That was when the pilot confirmed that the plane couldn’t fly any higher, so he had to return to Tripoli
He said, recalling the scene.
The former president noted the inherent risks of diplomatic travel, stating,
I have witnessed something like this before.
Following the incident, the delegation spent the night in Tripoli before continuing their journey to Sudan in a replacement aircraft.
In light of the recent helicopter disaster, Kufuor’s account stands as a poignant reminder of the dangers public officials sometimes face in the line of duty.