Accra, (Greater Accra) 8 Oct.,

Ghana Airways today assured the public that its recently acquired DC 9 aircraft are safe, sound and very comfortable. In a statement, the airline said due congnisance was taken of various safety, financial as well as technical factors while purchasing the aircraft for its east and west coast operations. Ghana Airways was reacting to a publication in this week's edition of an Accra weekly which claimed that DC9 aircraft were '''third' hand, rusty and rickety'' in a front page story headlined "Ghanair Buys 'Rusty ' Plane " . The statement called the story ''defamatory',' pointing out that '' in announcing the resumption of our West coast services, no where did we indicate that we had acquired a new aircraft. "The aircraft that we have just put into service was not manufactured in 1970 and it is neither rusty nor rickety. ''The interior is very well spoken off and the emergency oxygen bottles are serviceable, safe and in acceptable condition. The aircraft has a supply of cold drinking water in both rear and forward galleys as well heating facilities for water and ovens for warming food, contrary to what the weekly said. The airline said a competent team of its engineers and cabin staff spent considerable time in Caracas, Venezuela, to inspect the aircraft. It said AVENSA, from whom the aircraft was purchased, is an approved United States Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) repair station which undertook additional modifications and refurbishment for the Ghana Airways. Since the arrival of the aircraft in Ghana, seasoned flyers have rated its performance as "fantastic'', the statement said. It said the aircraft never landed in any Cuban airport while being flown to Ghana and therefore it could not have been impounded in Cuba.