The Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIB Ghana) has stated that schoolchildren on a field at Tema Day Care School near Oninku School Park misread a microlight pilot’s urgent signal to clear the ground for an emergency landing before the plane went down.
Delivering the final findings Tuesday, May 26, Lead Investigator Captain Paul Fordjour said the pilot flew low over Tema Township to alert pupils playing on the field.
The report noted the pilot was trying to get the children to leave the space so he could land safely. But the kids mistook the gesture and waved cheerfully at the plane while staying on the field.
“Unfortunately, the school children misunderstood the intentions of the aircraft and happily waved back at the aircraft and continued playing on the field. The attempted landing was therefore aborted,” the report said.
The report added that on a later forced landing try, the aircraft was seen in a left-bank position just before it lost control and slammed into the grounds of Tema Day Care School in Community One, Tema, close to Oninku School Park.
Investigators stated the microlight’s last path cut through trees before grazing the roof of the daycare building and then hitting a tree at a dump site between two school blocks.The microlight, registration 9G-ADV, crashed on March 16, 2026, inside the TMA Day Care Centre near Oninku Drive Basic School in Tema Community One.
