The gradual end of the Aviation era in Ghana

London Heathrow is one of the busiest, if not the busiest Airport on Planet Earth. On one of my flights into Heathrow on Ghana Airways, we were asked to circle over London until it was our turn to land. After circling over London for a while, we begun our descent. The aircraft suddenly made a steep bank to the left, leveled out and after a while executed a similar maneuver. The pretty lady next to me grabbed my arm and held tight.  I prayed for many more such turns. There was a mathematical precision to the banking of the aircraft, almost as if it had been calculated to fly exactly along the perimeter of an imaginary rectangle in the sky. After yet another sharp mathematical turn, the buildings comprising Heathrow airport, whizzed by through the small window. Until the reverse thrust kicked in, we didn’t even realize that we had landed. Inexplicably, we broke into spontaneous applause.

This as usual, was a textbook landing by Captain Kofi Ampomah, the first pilot from the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa district. He also happened to be one of the first four Ghanaians who qualified as commercial pilot before Ghana’s independence in 1957. We Bremanese can proudly claim to have made an impact on the Ghanaian Aviation Scene. Not only did Captain Ampomah inspire other male Bremanese boys to become Pilots, he also inspired a lady from Breman Asikuma, Miss Joanna Dickson to become one of the first three Ghanaian female Pilots.

Captain Ampomah learnt how to fly from the best British Pilots. He was by nature a perfectionist and this, coupled with the rigorous training by his instructors resulted in arguably, one of the best commercial pilots ever. Long before the advent of computer controlled flight, he had learnt to navigate a plane by using the position of the stars. This knowledge came in handy on a flight where his instrumentation failed. To the amazement of the younger pilots, and without batting an eyelid, he coolly navigated the plane to its destination using the stars.

Captain Ampomah, together with the other three aviation pioneers, Captain Agyare, Captain Dorkenoo and Captain Sam, institutionalized a tradition of excellence in flight that lasted throughout the tenure of Ghana Airways. This was indubitably evinced in Ghana Airways’s trademark smooth landings. Indeed if a Ghana Airways pilot executed a rough landing, he would be the object of laughter and jokes for a considerable period of time. When Ghana Airways was cruelly and systematically destroyed by Ghanaians, other airlines quickly snapped up our Pilots.

Ghana Airways ruled the West Coast of Africa. As soon as Ghanaians killed the venerable institution, a vacuum was created and numerous airlines sprang up to fill the vacuum. Imagine Legon or KNUST being shut down forever because it had amassed debts due to politician’s children and relatives being educated for free over decades. That is what Ghanaians did to Ghana Airways.

Captain Ampomah’s mind was always in overdrive. He was always willing to share his vast repository of knowledge. He always invited passengers into the cockpit for a tour. Ghana Airways pilots were an institution, an aviation resource that given the chance could have transformed Ghana into the hub of aviation for West Africa. Indeed watching the proceedings at Captain Ampomah’s funeral, I reflected sadly at how much aviation knowledge and experience was locked up in that wooden coffin bearing his mortal remains.

Ghana could have leveraged the vast knowledge and experience of Captain Ampomah and his colleagues to create an Aviation Centre of Excellence for the West African Region. Captain Ampomah and his colleagues could have been lecturers or Aviation Professors. It could have become the hub of an aviation education and possibly, industry in Ghana and West Africa.

But alas, we, as a nation have allowed the crucial body of knowledge and experience called Ghana Airways to implode and gradually dissipate. So watching Kwaku Sikahene Ampomah taking his father’s mortal remains away to be laid to rest, I could not help feeling that not only was Captain Ampomah being laid to rest but a significant part of Ghana’s aviation resource was being interred forever.

Ghanaians are a nation of talkers and not doers. We must begin to appreciate our resources and leverage them to become institutions. We will never realize our full potential until we begin to do so.

Captain Ampomah may have gone but his legacy lives on in the hearts of all Bremanese and quite a few Ghanaians. We will forever be proud of him, his achievements and his contribution to Breman in particular and Ghana in general.

Captain Ampomah is on his last flight. And we pray that he executes one of his smooth landings in Heaven.