Former President John Agyekum Kufuor
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has revealed an air travel experience during his presidency, recalling how he narrowly escaped a potential plane crash over the Sahara Desert in 2007.
His account comes in the wake of the tragic helicopter crash in Ghana that claimed eight lives, a disaster that has stirred fresh public discussions on aviation safety.
Speaking in an interview on Angel TV on August 7, 2025, the former president recounted that the incident occurred during an official trip from Tripoli, Libya, to Khartoum, Sudan, with an entourage of between 12 and 16 officials.
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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.
“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?
“The pilot remained silent, not communicating anything to us,” he recalled during the interview.
According to him, the aircraft, which had just departed Tripoli after a meeting with the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, suddenly struggled to gain altitude.
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Kufuor said passengers observed flight attendants hurriedly shifting luggage towards the cabin area, a move that heightened fears.
In an attempt to avert disaster, the pilot diverted the aircraft toward the Mediterranean Sea.
“The plane manoeuvred and turned over the Mediterranean Sea, still struggling to climb for nearly an hour before we landed back in Tripoli,” Kufuor narrated.
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“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.”
AM/SEA
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