Sun sets for first female MDF pilot

Sorrow engulfed Kasalika Village in Traditional Authority Nanseta, Thyolo District yesterday, when the remains of Major Flora Selemani Ngwinjili were taken to Mangunda Headquarters ground for a funeral service.

Ngwinjili, who was the first female pilot in the Malawi Defence Force (MDF), tragically died in a military plane crash on Monday in Mzimba that also claimed the life of Vice-President Saulos Chilima and seven others.

Mourners gathered as early as 8am, their faces etched with grief. The ceremony started at 10.04am. Ngwinili’s relations, visibly overcome with emotion, struggled to come to terms with her death.

The coffin, draped in the Malawi flag, was carried by MDF pallbearers, their faces sombre and teary.

In his eulogy, her uncle Harnec Mataka said the late was a courageous and selfless individual who defied the odds and inspired many girls in her village.

“She was also a pillar of the family and we always relied on her for her wisdom. As a family, we have lost big time and we don’t know how best we can mourn her,” he said.

Thyolo district commissioner Hudson Kuphanga echoed Mataka’s sentiments.

He said: “She was a role model to girls in the district. It is sad that we have lost such a humble and hard-working soul.”

MDF deputy commander Lieutenant George Jafu described the late Ngwinjili as an individual who was dedicated to her work.

“She was one of our best in the force and we mourn with the family and friends for this loss,” he said.

Minister of Youth and Sports Uchizi Mkandawire, who represented President Lazarus Chakwera, eulogised Ngwinjili as a hard-working and free-spirited individual.

After the funeral service at the ground, the procession made its way through the tarmac road to the gravesite—about three kilometres away—passing under a blanket of grey clouds that seemed to reflect the sorrow of the day.

As the coffin was being lowered into the grave, grief-stricken family and friends bade her bye, their hearts seemingly shattered into a million pieces.

The late Ngwinjili is survived by a husband and a daughter who is in reception. She joined MDF on November 12 1999. She was commissioned as an officer on December 11 2015 and was promoted to the rank of Major in 2020.

She was the second-born in a family of five girls. She attended Namalimwe Primary School in Ndirande before proceeding to HHI Secondary School in Blantyre.

She joined MDF soon after writing her Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations in 1999. After ordinary military training she was posted to different departments and ended up at Air Wing.

She did a cabin attendance course and once served as a presidential hostess for nine years.

Later, she went for Flight Training Services in South Africa where she obtained a commercial and private licence. In the course of her work, she also attended numerous aviation trainings, both locally and internationally.

Others that died in the plane crash are Colonel Owen Sambalopa, who was the pilot-in-command, aircraft engineer Major Wallece Aidin, Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy chief of staff Abdul Lapukeni, Chilima’s medical officer Dan Kanyemba, aide-de-camp Chisomo Chimaneni and former first lady Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri.

In a late night address on Monday, Chakwera said the MDF aircraft left Mzuzu Airport at 7.05am and landed at Kamuzu International Airport at 7.48am to pick Chilima and his entourage to Mzuzu on his way to Nkhata Bay to attend the funeral of former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Ralph Kasambara