Fresh plane crash probe team off to ground zero

Parliament’s ad hoc committee tasked with investigating the military plane crash that killed former vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others in June 2024 gets down to work today with visits to critical spots.

Today, the committee will visit Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe where the Malawi Defence Force Dornier 228 number Malawi Air Force (MAF) T03 took off on June 10 2024 for Mzuzu Airport before crashing at Nthungwa in Viphya Plantation, killing everyone on board.

The committee’s programme shows that it will also visit the crash site, Mzuzu Airport and Zomba to assess the wreckage. The aircraft had started off from Zomba Airwing on Sunday, June 9 for Chileka Airport in Blantyre, now called Bakili Muluzi International Airport, from where it proceeded to Mzuzu carrying the body of former minister of Justice and Attorney General Ralph Kasambara.

Committee chairperson Walter Nyamilandu yesterday could not give details on the state of preparedness, expectations and objectives, saying the questions will be answered later this week.

“I have passed on the questionnaire to the PRO. We will revert in the course of the week. We will be on the road,” he said.

The new probe reopens one of Malawi’s most emotionally charged national tragedies after previous investigations failed to fully settle public debate.

Earlier inquiries, including a technical assessment by German aircraft manufacturers and a government-appointed commission of inquiry, largely attributed the crash to adverse weather and operational factors, pointing to no foul play.

But the findings failed to extinguish public scepticism, with lingering questions over information management, decision-making and other circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

The persistence of those doubts ultimately triggered renewed calls for another inquiry, piling pressure on Parliament to demonstrate transparency, independence and professionalism.

In an interview yesterday, National Advocacy Platform chairperson Benedicto Kondowe said the inquiry represented more than an attempt to establish the cause of the crash.

“Beyond establishing what happened, the parliamentary inquiry is ultimately a test of institutional accountability, transparency and the State’s responsiveness to public concern,” he said.

On his part, political analyst Ernest Thindwa said the inquiry was always vulnerable to political undertones because some of those involved were prominent political figures.

“The Chikangawa tragedy was always at risk of assuming a political dimension because some personalities involved were political actors and partisan interests cannot easily be divorced from the investigation process,” he said.

Political Science Association spokesperson Mabvuto Bamusi said the tragedy had evolved beyond an aviation accident into a political disaster because of Chilima’s national influence.

He said the committee would need to engage technical experts if it hoped to comprehensively interrogate unresolved issues.

Earlier, Nyamilandu said the probe will run three parallel tracks: a Health, Safety, Security and Environmental audit of aviation systems and operations; a forensic audit to establish facts and uncover new information; and autopsies to determine medical and pathological causes linked to the deaths.

President Peter Mutharika ordered the fresh probe in February after Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Charles Mhango cited gaps in three previous inquiries and recommended a new investigation.

Speaker of the National Assembly Sameer Suleman announced a 13-member committee tasked to interrogate previous findings, close gaps and deliver closure and report back within 90 days.

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