By Mercy Matonga:
Former acting Director of the Civil Aviation Authority Samuel Kalua has told the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee investigating the Chikangawa military aircraft crash that Malawi’s airports face serious safety and infrastructure challenges.
Kalua was speaking Wednesday when he appeared before the committee investigating the crash that killed then vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others.
He said years of financial constraints and bureaucratic challenges had affected the aviation sector’s ability to maintain safety standards and essential airport equipment.
Kalua cited a faulty landing system at Kamuzu International Airport, which he said sometimes directed aircraft onto wrong routes, posing a serious safety risk.
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“We had to switch it off so that officers can land without being directed,” he said.
He also said Malawi’s airports did not have recording devices to capture communications between pilots and air traffic controllers at the time of the crash.
“For 27 years, our airports operated without a radar, and it was installed in 2019. This is not just about the leadership; it is also bureaucracy within the system,” he said.
Kalua further said Bakili Muluzi International Airport lacked other landing systems, forcing pilots to rely on their own judgement when landing.
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He said reforms were needed to strengthen civil aviation oversight and ensure airport infrastructure was properly maintained.
Earlier, former Kamuzu International Airport briefing officer Mary Chirwa also appeared before the committee.
Chirwa, who served in the aviation sector for 37 years, said on June 10 2024 she met Major Seleman, the pilot, for a flight briefing and noted that she was taking a different route.
“She told me they had faced challenges with the initial route during their previous trip from Mzuzu to Lilongwe,” Chirwa said.
The crash killed Chilima and eight others while they were travelling to Mzuzu for the funeral of former Cabinet minister Ralph Kasambara in Nkhata Bay.
