ET Cargo 737-400F Crashes at Accra

As Ghana’s Aviation Authority confirms, the crash happened yesterday, 10 January, around 11:05 a.m. at Accra’s Kotoka International Airport. The accident was caused by a Boeing 737-400F belonging to Ethiopian Cargo but operated by its Togolese partner ASKY that skidded off the runway after landing. According to Newman Quartey, the Corporate Communications Officer of Ghana Airport Company, the incident occurred when the aircraft was attempting to land during very poor weather conditions. But it is unclear to this point if the crash was caused by the weather circumstances even though airport officials have indicated this.

The plane was en route from ET Cargo’s West African gateway Lomé, Togo to Accra with three crew members on board. Luckily, they all survived but were injured and taken to a military hospital in the Ghanaian capital. Due to the lack of medical information at this point it is unknown how severely they were hurt.

Ethiopian Cargo has not issued any statement to this hour explaining the reasons for the crash or shed light on the health conditions of its hospitalized three employees. 

Meanwhile, Ghanaian aviation inspectors have begun investigations to ascertain the cause of the accident. Airport officials emphasized that flight operations at Kotoka International have normalized despite the fact that Ethiopian’s Boeing 737-400 freighter (registration: ET-AQV) has damaged the runway substantially while crash-landing there.

The latest accident is not the first time a cargo plane skidded off the runway at Accra airport. In 2012, a Nigerian freighter got out of control during landing, colliding with a passenger vehicle and killing ten people.

As result of the crash, Ethiopian Cargo loses its sole Boeing 737-400F belonging to the carrier’s seven units comprising freighter fleet. Despite yesterday’s Accra crash, Ethiopian Airlines is still top rated in Africa and has one of the continent's best airline accident records.

Heiner Siegmund