A devastating plane crash that claimed the lives of former Malawi vice president Saulos Chilima and eight others has raised serious concerns about the country’s aviation safety standards.
A preliminary report by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Investigation (BFU) has revealed a shocking pattern of gross negligence on the part of authorities.
The report states that the Malawi Defence Force-owned Dornier 228-202(K) was not airworthy due to several factors. For instance, the report says the aircraft had a malfunctioning Emergency Transmitter Locator (ETL).
The ETL’s batteries had expired in 2004, making it difficult for the rescuers to locate the crash site in Chikangawa Forest. This alarming discovery raises questions about the regulatory and thoroughness of maintenance of aircraft in Malawi.
The report says the crash happened in Chikangawa forest at 10:16 am on 10 June 2024.
Apart from that, the report also reveals that the plane was not fitted with a Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder(FDR), which contributed to the investigator’s ability to reconstruct the events leading to the accident. Additionally, there were no flight data recordings for the flight, further complicating the investigations.
The report has, however, clarified the possibility of the plane running out of fuel. The report says the plane had enough fuel to fly the plane for 2 hours and 30 minutes as it had refuelled upon its arrival at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) from Mzuzu.
“The plane was refueled at KIA after landing from Mzuzu Airport. The provided fuel receipt showed that at KIA, the aeroplane was refuelled with 483 jet A fuel before departure to Mzuzu Airport.
The aircraft, manufactured in 1987 by General Atomics AeroTec systems, had accumulated 3, 492 flight hours. While not directly necessarily a direct cause of the accident, the age of the aircraft, coupled with issues like the non-functional ELT, raises concerns about the overall maintenance ace practices for the fleet.
An investigation conducted by the BFU and facilitated by Jens Friedemann and Dr Susan Winkler has therefore suggested safety recommendations to the Government of Malawi to avoid similar occurrences in the future.
The report has asked the Minister of Defence in Malawi to ensure that the Malawi Air Transportation persons are equipped with functional Emergency Locator Transmitters.
It further cautions the Department of Civil Aviation to always check that there are proper functional radio navigation aids and update the respective information in Malawi Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP).
The report’s findings are a wake-up call for the Malawian authorities to take immediate action to address the systemic failures that led to the tragic incident.
