The Presidential Falcon 900 EX-Easy II jet, Ghana’s flagship government aircraft, has finally returned to the custody of the Ghana Air Force (GAF) after an extended eight-month maintenance and repair ordeal in France.
The jet landed safely on Monday, November 10, 2025, marking the end of a long technical layover necessitated by severe defects discovered during a mandatory inspection, public-interest advocate Bright Simons has revealed.
In a post on X, Mr Simons explained that the aircraft had been stationed at the Dassault Falcon Service (DFS) Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) base at Paris Le Bourget (PLB) since the 10th of March for a routine procedure that turned into a prolonged repair job.
The jet was initially sent to the Dassault facility to undergo a crucial mandatory 24-month and 1,600-hour technical inspection required by aviation safety regulations. However, independent checks revealed the maintenance had to be dramatically extended after technicians discovered critical, severe defects.
Mr Simons said that the extensive inspection revealed structural and mechanical failures that posed significant safety risks:
- Fuel Tank Defects: Severe issues were found affecting the aircraft’s fuel containment system.
- Turbofan Failure: Critical defects were discovered in one of the aircraft’s powerful turbofan engines.
These findings immediately triggered prolonged and complex repair processes that could only be carried out with the direct assistance of the manufacturer’s specialized teams at the Dassault facility.
The extensive duration of the maintenance—lasting a full eight months—was largely attributed to logistical challenges in securing proprietary parts.
“The long delay in completing the repairs was due to some apparent difficulty sourcing certain OEM-certified spare parts,” Bright Simons noted.
The maintenance involved highly technical work, including leak tests, engine ground runs, and acceptance flights to verify structural integrity and performance following the repairs. Following the successful completion of all checks, the aircraft was finally given the “all clear” by DFS.
Prior to its final delivery back to Accra, the jet conducted a minor positioning flight from Marseille for logistics reasons. The GAF is now expected to resume using the Falcon 900 EX-Easy II for presidential and high-level government travel, ending the period where the government would have relied on commercial flights or charter services.
Source: David Aping
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