A Malawi Defence Force Aircraft carrying the country’s Vice President, Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima and nine others, has been declared missing.
The office of the Malawi President and Cabinet which made this known in a statement issued on Monday and signed by the Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Colleen Zamba, said that the aircraft took off from Lilongwe on Monday Monday at 09:17am in the morning but failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport at 10:02am.
The official statement noted that all efforts by the country’s aviation authorities to make contact with the aircraft since it went off the radar had failed thus far.
The statement read, “The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to inform the general public that the Malawi Defense Force Aircraft that left Lilongwe today, Monday 10th June 2024 at 09:17 Hours, carrying the Vice President, the Right Honourable Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima, and nine others, failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport at 10:02.
“All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the Aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far.
“As such, the Commander of the Malawi Defense Force, General Valentino Phiri, has since informed His Excellency Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera of the incident and the President has since canceled his scheduled departure for the Bahamas and ordered all regional and national agencies to conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft.
“The public will be updated of any developments on the situation as facts are established.”
