The Ghana Armed Forces have confirmed that a military helicopter carrying the corpse of the late Air Marshall Michael Akuoko Otu on Friday crashed at Adukrom in the Akwapem hills of the Eastern Region. The Mi-17 helicopter, one of four newly acquired by the State, crashed at about 1300 hours. A statement signed by Colonel E.W.K. Nibo, Director of Public Relations said all 13 passengers and five crew members on board escaped safely. The Army Command has dispatched a preliminary investigation team to determine the probable cause of the accident. Eyewitnesses to the unfortunate accident said the helicopter was almost landing with the casket containing the remains of the late military officer. However a cloud of rising dust from the landing site may have informed the pilot to make a short detour, but as the helicopter rose, its rotor hit a tree, then ripped off the roof of a church building before hitting a telecommunications antennae. It went down after hitting the antennae but luckily for all on board, a door to the rear of the helicopter fell open and enabled them to escape before it was engulfed in an ensuing blaze that consumed it and the coffin. The late Otu’s remains were due for a final funeral rite at the Bethel Presbyterian Church at Adukrom on Saturday after the military command held a funeral service at the Methodist Presbyterian Church, Burma Camp on Friday. The family have decided to proceed with the funeral and would be permitted to salvage ashes of the late Otu for burial. The late Michael Akuako Otu was recruited into the Army in 1943. He started his career in the Gold Coast Army and was later sent to Germany with the Ghanaian contingent to fight in the Second World War. Air Marshal Otu went to England in 1953 for officers training where he became an assistant to the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II and escorted her during her visit to Ghana in 1961. He later joined the Ghana Air Force where he rose through the ranks to become the second Chief of Defence Staff after Air Commodore De Graft Hayford who was the first Air Force Officer to head the Armed Forces, a position usually occupied by personnel from the Army. Air Marshal Otu retired from the Air Force in 1971, having served 28 years with the armed forces. In his 35 years of retirement, Air Marshal Otu was manning two companies, COMPUFORMS, a computer accessory shop and UNIVERSAL tractors, a company that traded in agricultural machinery. He was the younger brother of Military Chief of Staff, Stephen Joseph Asamoah Otu after who the Otu Barracks, also known as the Senior Staff College was named. He died on October 8, 2006 at the age of 81 and was survived by five children.