FACT-CHECK: Facebook user shares Italian military helicopter take off to depict August 6 incident

Claim: A video of how ill-fated August 6 helicopter took off from Accra

Source: Facebook

Verdict: False

Researched by Gifty Danso

A Facebook user, Confidence ba tv GH, recently shared a 37-second video supposedly showing how the Ghana Armed Forces’ Z-9 helicopter took off from Accra on August 6, 2025 before it crashed later that day. 

The video showed a helicopter taking off steadily in a green field, the post had a caption that said: “How it started in Accra… Rest well big 8,” ostensibly referring to the eight lives lost during the August 6 helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region. 

This post had garnered at least 649 likes, with 37 comments and 38 shares. The video was also shared on YouTube with hashtags #ghana, #helicopter, #HelicopterCrash. 

This fact-check will verify the authenticity of the video. 

Fact-Check

GhanaFact fact-checked this video on three grounds:

1. Google Reverse Image Search showed the video was originally from Italy.
2. The helicopter from the claimant’s video was different from the one that crashed on August 6, 2025.
3. Accurate footage shared by mainstream media in the early days of the crash showed Dr Edward Omane Boamah (one of the victims of the incident) boarding the helicopter before takeoff in surroundings that looked nothing like the airfield in the claim. 

Using Google Reverse Image search, GhanaFact traced the video to a June 2025 Search and Rescue exercise, called “Grifone,” organised by the Italian Air Force. Footage from that event showed the helicopter referred to in the claim (find here and from 0:08 of this 2-minute video here). 

The Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) and some platforms had also shared photos from that event. This matched the surroundings in the video shared to suggest the takeoff of the helicopter that crashed on August 6. (here, here, and here). 

Another clue used in debunking the claim is the name of the helicopter. In the case of the August 6 crash, it was a Z-9 helicopter, which belonged to the Ghana Air Force. 

In this case, the helicopter in the video is an HH139B, which is also the military version of the AW.139, multi-role helicopter designed and built in Italy by AgustaWestland (now Leonardo Helicopters). 

According to the Italian Air Force, the HH-139B version is equipped with a “dual winch system to enhance system reliability and safety during recovery operations, and a mission console for better onboard equipment management for search and rescue missions.”

Finally, while the video attached to the claim showed the helicopter taking off in a green field surrounded by ridges and forest, that is different to what happened in the case of Ghana. 

In the early days after the August 6 crash, several mainstream media outlets (here, here, and here) shared a video that showed the late Defence Minister, Dr Edward Omane Boamah and others boarding the Z-9 helicopter at the Air Force base in Accra. 

The surroundings from those videos showed a large airfield area, with little to no grass. 

GhanaFact shared our findings with Confidence ba tv GH via Facebook Messenger but they have yet to respond.

Verdict

Therefore, the claim is False, as the video was not taken in Ghana.