Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera announced on Tuesday (June 11) that the plane carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima crashed, resulting in the tragic deaths of all ten people on board.
Due to adverse weather conditions, the aircraft was unable to land as scheduled at the Mzuzu International Airport, located approximately 380 kilometers (240 miles) north of the capital Lilongwe. It disappeared while returning after being instructed not to land at the Mzuzu airport due to poor visibility. President Chakwera expressed deep sorrow at the incident and confirmed that the wreckage of the plane had been located.
After over a day of searching, personnel in the northern mountains of this southern African nation discovered the wreckage of the military aircraft carrying Vice President Chilima. The flight from Lilongwe to Mzuzu, which should have only lasted 45 minutes, went missing during the journey. President Chakwera mobilized hundreds of soldiers, police, and rangers to search for the missing plane.
Reports from the Associated Press indicated that the aircraft also carried Malawi’s former First Lady. The President stated that due to poor weather conditions and low visibility, air traffic controllers advised the plane not to land at Mzuzu, leading to its disappearance from radar after the loss of communication.
The plane had seven passengers and three military crew members on board. President Chakwera described the aircraft as a small propeller-driven plane operated by the Malawian armed forces. According to aircraft information tracking website ch-aviation, the tail number provided by the President indicated that the crashed plane was a Dornier 228 twin-propeller aircraft delivered to Malawi’s military in 1988.
Search operations were launched near the Viphya Mountains plantation close to Mzuzu, where the last known signals from the aircraft were detected. Approximately 600 personnel were involved in the search efforts. The leader of the operation, Commander Paul Valentino Phiri, cited adverse weather conditions as causing delays in the rescue efforts.
Malawian officials disclosed that the wreckage was found in the Chikangawa Forest, extensively damaged and beyond recognition, causing profound heartache. President Chakwera paid tribute to his deputy, praising him as a good person, devoted father and husband, and a patriotic citizen who made outstanding contributions to the nation.
Chilima, aged 51, had returned to Malawi on June 6 after attending the Han Fei Summit in Seoul the previous week. Prior to the tragic incident, he was serving his second term as Vice President. From 2014 to 2019, he had been the deputy to former President Peter Mutharika. In 2019, Chilima contested the Malawian presidential elections and secured the third position behind Bingu Mutharika and Chakwera. Following irregularities, the Malawian Constitutional Court annulled the vote.
Subsequently, Chilima joined Chakwera’s campaign as his running mate and served in the historic 2020 presidential election re-run, which led to Chakwera’s victory and the first-ever ousting of an incumbent president in Africa through a court-overturned election result.
Previously facing corruption allegations related to government procurement contracts for the Malawian armed forces and police, Chilima saw the charges dropped by prosecutors last month. He denied the accusations, but the case sparked criticism over the Chakwera government’s perceived lack of a firm stance against corruption.
Malawi, once a diplomatic ally of Taiwan, switched its allegiance to Beijing in 2007. In February 2009, former President Mutharika admitted that the decision to sever ties with Taiwan and establish relations with Beijing had been a mistake.