The government has revealed that, having finished Chikangawa plane crash reports’ reviews, it is progressing to the next stage: Visiting the site of the accident that killed former vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others.
The others who died in the plane accident, which occurred on June 10, 2024, are former first lady Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri, Lucas Kapheni, Chisomo Chimaneni, Dan Kanyemba, Abdul Lapukeni as well as Colonel Owen Sambalopa, Major Flora Selemani and Major Aidin, who are Malawi Defence Force personnel who were operating the Malawi Air
Force Dornier 228-202(K) plane. The revelation comes exactly 38 days after, on November 19 this year, Justice Minister Charles Mhango revealed that he had finished going through Chikangawa Plane Crash reports.
Homeland Security Deputy Minister Norman Chisale told The Daily Times on Thursday that everything was set for the site visit.
He said government officials would travel to Chikangawa in the Northern Region to establish circumstances surrounding the aircraft crash.
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“We will be visiting the area to assess and establish what exactly happened,” he said.
Last month, Mhango indicated that he had completed reviewing reports related to the plane crash.
This came after, in early November, Mhango announced that he had asked for all three reports that were previously released on the tragic incident.
“I am done looking at the reports but I cannot say when I am submitting them to the President [Peter Mutharika] or what the recommendations are. The review is done,” Mhango said.
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In September this year, Mutharika indicated that the Minister of Justice would examine issues surrounding the crash.
In June this year, the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) released findings of an investigation they had been conducting on the tragic plane accident.
The report indicated that the accident was caused by human error and bad weather conditions.
The report indicated that the crew flew into areas with lower cloud coverage, indicating their intention to gain or maintain visual contact with the ground.
However, this decision, according to findings, ultimately led to the aircraft colliding with ascending terrain.
“The accident occurred because the crew flew into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) during flight under visual flight rules (VFR) and the aircraft collided with the ascending terrain,” the report reads.
Technically, in aviation, instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) refer to weather conditions where pilots are required to fly primarily using instruments instead of relying on visual references.
The report further indicated that the aircraft hit the slope of a hill in marginal visual conditions.
The investigation has revealed that the crew was flying manually and did not use the autopilot during the low-level flight phase.
“The BFU is convinced that the pilots were unaware that the aircraft was just about to collide with the ascending terrain. This can be explained by the fact that, in the last seconds of the flight, they went into instrument meteorological conditions.
“It was not possible to determine exactly when the crew extended the flaps in position 1 (5°) and the landing gear. A possible explanation could be that flying in low visibility with flaps 1 (5°) allowed them to fly slightly slower, therefore giving more time to react and foremost, have a better visibility of the terrain ahead (Appendix 2).
“For what reasons the crew extended the landing gear could not be determined,” the report reads.
The report further says the investigators could not completely spell out why the crew made the decisions they made because the aircraft was not equipped with necessary equipment like Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) or a Flight Data Recorder (FDR).
On the other hand, a commission of inquiry that former President Lazarus Chakwera instituted attributed the accident to human and environmental factors.
Recently, the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) also called for a fresh investigation into the incident, arguing that a new probe would help uncover the truth and clear the party’s name from longstanding accusations of a cover-up.
Speaking during the last meeting of Parliament, Lilongwe Mpenu legislator Eisenhower Mkaka urged the Ministry of Justice to institute another inquiry into the crash.
He said the erstwhile governing party had nothing to hide and that Malawians deserved to know the truth.
Chilima was on his way to Nkhata Bay to attend the funeral of former minister of Justice and attorney general Ralph Kasambara when the plane did not reach its destination, namely Mzuzu Airport.
