The final investigative report on the military plane crash that killed former vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others on June 10 2024 has attributed the cause of the accident to collision with terrain following adverse weather.
The report—by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU)— which has since been published on its website nearly a year after the tragic accident, states that the flight crew operated in adverse weather conditions; hence, leading to the crash.
According to findings of the German investigators, the Department of Meteorological Services did not provide any meteorological information on the planned route the plane had to use, contrary to International Civil Aviation Organisation (Icao) standards.
Reads part of the report: “The accident occurred because the crew flew into instrument meteorological conditions during flight under visual flight rules and the aircraft collided with the ascending terrain.”
According to the investigative report, some of the contributing factors to the accident include the decision to continue the flight to the destination at low altitude in marginal weather conditions, lack of situational awareness and inadequate pre-flight preparation.
The investigative report, however, states that the lack of an effective emergency transmitter and the misleading information about the last position of the aircraft made the search for the accident site more difficult.
It further states that due to severity of the impact, the accident was not survivable for all nine occupants of the aircraft.
Apart from Chilima, former first lady Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri and seven others were aboard the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) plane Dornier 228 MAFT03 from Lilongwe to Mzuzu Airport when it crashed at Nthungwa in Viphya Plantation, killing everyone on board.
Other victims were Chilima’s guard commander Lukas Kapheni, aide-de-camp Chisomo Chimaneni, medical officer Dan Kanyemba, Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy chief of protocol Abdul Lapukeni, Colonel Owen Sambalopa, who was the pilot-in-command, Major Flora Selemani, who was the second pilot and aircraft engineer Major Wales Aidin.
They were on their way to attend the burial ceremony of former minister of Justice Ralph Kasambara and the ill-fated Donnier 228 was scheduled to land at Mzuzu Airport at 10.02am.
According to the investigative report, the planned as well as the actual course of events on the day of the accident resulted in deadline pressure for the execution of the flight and a punctual landing in Mzuzu.
The report also states that contrary to Icao standards and recommendations, radar and radio were not recorded in Lilongwe and the Malawi Air Force did not have up-to-date data on the validity of its flight crew.
Despite the pilot-in-command being experienced, findings of the report, however, established that the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) was no longer functional for 20 years.
“This was known in the squadron and the copilot accordingly made no entry in the field ELT on the flight plan. The technical standard of the ELT was outdated and has not been supported for years. The Rescue Coordination Centre was not aware of this when coordinating the search and rescue [SAR] operation for the aircraft,” reads the report further.
Fresh recommendations in the report appeal to the director general of the Civil Aviation Authority to ensure that air navigation service providers or airport operators record radar data and radio traffic at least at the country’s major airports and keep it stored for a period of at least 30 days.
It further reads: “For this purpose, the Department of Meteorological Services should provide meteorological data for the en-route phase as well as for planned alternate aerodromes.”
The report also recommends that the Commander of the Malawi Air Force should ensure that aero-medical data of its individual flight crew members are up-to-date and copies of the latest certificates are stored in their respective military units at all times.
Besides, it recommends that the Commander of the Malawi Air Force should ensure that a high level of aviation safety is ensured in the operations of the transport aircraft squadron.
Minister of Information and Digitalisation Moses Kunkuyu said in a statement on Saturday evening that families of the plane victims were briefed about the contents of the report at a meeting held on Saturday in Lilongwe.
We were, however, unable to talk to the individual families on the report on Saturday evening.
