Germans speak on plane crash probe
German experts hired to lead an independent investigation into the June 10 2024 military plane crash that killed the country’s Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others will release their interim report at the end of next month.
The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) has announced in a statement that the interim report will include the facts that have been gathered up to the point of release.
“During the investigation of the wreckage, a Global Positioning System (GPS) was secured and later transported to the BFU [in Germany],” reads the statement posted on BFU website on Thursday.
The announcement says that data of the accident flight and other flights stored in the GPS could be read out in the recorder and avionics laboratory of the BFU.
“These will now be analysed very thoroughly. This will take some time… The BFU will publish the analysis of the facts, the conclusions, causes and possible safety recommendations in a final report later on,” explains the statement.
The BFU further says the interim report into the Do228-202(K) military airplane from Lilongwe to Mzuzu will be published in English and German on its website (www.bfu-web.de/EN/).
“Investigations by the BFU are to be carried out separately and independently of judicial or administrative proceedings.
“The sole purpose of an investigation by the BFU is accident prevention. Investigation reports and safety recommendations do not contain any statements of guilt, liability or claims,” said BFU in the statement.
The airplane crashed into the slope of a hill in Nthungwa in Viphya Plantation in Nkhata Bay and all the nine occupants died.
The German investigation team comprises three experts—one from General Atomics, a company that has taken over the manufacture of Dornier 228s, while the other two are from the BFU.
The team was supported by experts from the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Malawi Defence Forces (MDF) to conduct a probe at the accident site, the aerodrome of departure and destination as well as the home base of the airplane.
The probe started 12 days after the accident by collecting data from MDF and CAA and, according to Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu, specific terms of reference included determining the facts, conditions and circumstances relating to the accident, the accident’s probable cause and any relevant matter.
Kunkuyu said the Germans were the first to respond to President Lazarus Chakwera’s call to help carry out independent investigations.
This followed several calls from various stakeholders, including Chilima’s family, for an independent investigation into the plane accident.
