Malawi plane crash probe targets aviation oversight

Malawi’s parliament has opened a third formal investigation into the June 2024 military aircraft crash that killed former vice-president Saulos Chilima and eight others, renewing scrutiny of aviation oversight and unresolved questions left by two earlier probes.

The parliamentary inquiry, announced last month, is the most expansive investigation yet into the disaster. Lawmakers say they will exhume the remains of all nine victims for post-mortem examinations, summon more than 150 witnesses and review aviation safety oversight, aircraft maintenance records and forensic evidence linked to the crash.

The scale of the inquiry reflects persistent doubts about whether earlier investigations fully explained the circumstances surrounding the accident.

Parliamentary ad-hoc committee chairperson Walter Nyamilandu Manda said the committee had completed the preparatory processes required before beginning its work.

“The parliamentary ad hoc committee established to conduct a fresh inquiry into the Chikangawa plane crash has successfully concluded its preparatory work and is now ready to commence investigations,” he said.

On 10 June 2024, a Dornier 228-202(K) operated by the Malawi Defence Force departed the capital, Lilongwe, bound for the northern city of Mzuzu. The twin-engine turboprop, manufactured in 1987 and commonly used for government transport, was carrying Chilima and eight other passengers.

The aircraft never reached its destination. It crashed into rising terrain inside the Chikangawa Forest Reserve in northern Malawi, killing everyone on board.

Malawi requested technical assistance from Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU), the authority responsible for investigating accidents involving German-manufactured aircraft.

The BFU’s final report, published in October 2025, concluded that pilot error was the primary cause of the crash. 

Investigators determined that the crew continued flying under visual flight rules despite encountering instrument meteorological conditions, where reduced visibility requires navigation using cockpit instruments. The aircraft ultimately struck terrain after the crew lost situational awareness.

A separate Malawian government commission of inquiry reached similar conclusions, citing adverse weather and pilot judgement as the principal factors behind the accident.

While the two investigations established a technical explanation for the crash, they left broader questions unresolved, particularly regarding aircraft equipment, maintenance standards and institutional oversight.

The BFU investigation highlighted several deficiencies that complicated efforts to reconstruct the aircraft’s final moments. The Dornier 228 involved in the crash was not equipped with a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder, commonly known as “black boxes”. 

These devices typically capture cockpit conversations and detailed aircraft performance data used to determine what occurred before an accident.Malawian aviation regulations did not require such recorders for aircraft in that category. As a result, BFU investigators relied largely on information recovered from a Garmin navigation unit found in the wreckage.

The report also found that the aircraft’s emergency locator transmitter, designed to automatically broadcast a distress signal after a crash, contained a battery that had expired in 2004.

Investigators were told that replacement parts or funding had not been available. Although search teams eventually located the wreckage in dense forest, the inoperative beacon raised broader concerns about maintenance practices within Malawi’s military aviation fleet.

The Malawi Air Force has not been quoted publicly responding directly to that finding, which is attributed to the BFU report. 

Persistent public scepticism about the earlier investigations prompted lawmakers to establish the parliamentary inquiry.

According to parliamentary statements, the investigation will proceed along three tracks: a health, safety, security and environmental audit; a forensic review aimed at identifying previously overlooked evidence; and post-mortem examinations of the crash victims.

The decision to exhume the remains of all nine victims has proven particularly contentious. No post-mortem examinations were conducted when the bodies were recovered in June 2024.

Under international aviation investigation practices, such examinations can help determine whether medical or toxicological factors may have affected a pilot’s ability to operate an aircraft.

Nearly two years have passed since the crash, raising questions about the potential degradation of forensic evidence.

The exhumations also carry cultural sensitivity. Burial practices in Malawi hold deep spiritual and social significance and the disturbance of graves can be distressing for families and communities.

Parliament has indicated that more than 150 witnesses may be called, including officials from aviation authorities, the military and government departments involved in authorising the flight.

The scale of the witness list suggests that decisions related to aircraft readiness, weather assessment and operational approval may have involved multiple institutions. The committee aims to present its findings within 90 days. 

The investigation has also become entangled in political debate. The Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which governed the country when the crash occurred, initially declined to participate in the parliamentary inquiry.

Party leaders, including opposition leader Simplex Chithyola Banda, argued that their involvement could undermine the independence of the investigation, noting that two earlier inquiries were conducted during the MCP-led administration.

However, by 27 March, the party reversed its position and agreed to participate after consultations with the speaker of parliament, Sameer Suleman, regarding the committee’s composition.

The plane crash has come to symbolise deeper concerns about aviation oversight in Malawi. The BFU report issued safety recommendations to Malawian aviation and defence authorities. 

Whether those recommendations have been implemented has not been publicly confirmed and is likely to become a central question for the parliamentary committee.

Military aviation in many lower-income countries operates under regulatory frameworks that differ from those governing commercial airlines. 

However, the absence of flight recorders and a functioning emergency beacon on a state aircraft carrying a sitting vice-president has raised broader questions about oversight, maintenance and institutional accountability.

Nearly two years after the crash, Malawi’s institutions are still seeking a definitive account of what happened on 10 June 2024.

If the parliamentary investigation proceeds without political deadlock and produces credible findings, it could provide the most comprehensive explanation yet of the accident and the systemic weaknesses it exposed.

For the families of the nine victims who died on a remote hillside in northern Malawi, the question that first emerged after the crash remains unresolved. 

The country’s third investigation has begun. Whether it will be the last remains uncertain.

Collins Mtika is a veteran journalist and the Mail & Guardian’s special Correspondent in Mzuzu, Malawi. This article was made possible by a partnership with the Centre for Investigative Journalism Malawi (CIJM) — www.investigative-malawi.org