Families of the people who died in the military plane crash on June 10, 2024 — including former Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima — say they need more time to read and understand the final report about the crash before giving their thoughts.
Three of the nine families — those of Chilima, former First Lady Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri, and Chilima’s bodyguard Chisomo Chimaneni — said they are still reading the long report. The other six families did not respond to questions.
Dr. Ben Chilima, who speaks for the Chilima family, said they haven’t had a chance to meet and talk about the report yet. “It’s too early for us to talk about the report because it just came out and not everyone in the family has seen it,” he said. “We need time to read it, talk as a family, and also speak with the other families.”
He did not say when the family would meet.
Ben Mankhamba, who speaks for the Dzimbiri family, said he only heard about the report on the radio.
“I didn’t know the report was out until this morning when I heard it on the radio,” he said. “I don’t know who the government talked to.”
Gladson Chipumphula, uncle to Chimaneni and family spokesperson, also said they need more time to read the report. He added that the whole family would decide together what to say.
On Saturday, the Minister of Information and Digitalisation, Moses Kunkuyu, said that the families had been told about the report at a meeting that day in Lilongwe.
The report said the main reason for the crash was human error. It explained that the pilots flew into bad weather where they could not see clearly, which caused the plane to crash into a hill.
The report also said there were problems with Malawi’s flight safety system. For example, the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services did not share weather updates for the flight path — something they were supposed to do by international rules.
The plane’s emergency signal device also did not work properly, and the first reports about where the plane went missing were wrong. These issues made it harder and slower for rescue teams to find the plane.
The Malawi Defence Force Dornier 228 MAFT03 was flying from Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe to Mzuzu Airport. The group was on their way to Nkhata Bay for the funeral of former Minister of Justice Ralph Kasambara.
All nine people on board died in the crash at Nthungwa in Viphya Plantation. Besides Chilima, Dzimbiri, and Chimaneni, the others were:
- Lucas Kapheni – Chilima’s head bodyguard
- Dr. Dan Kanyemba – medical doctor
- Abdul Lapukeni – deputy chief of protocol, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Colonel Owen Sambalopa – pilot
- Major Flora Selemani – co-pilot
- Major Wales Aidin – plane engineer
The families have asked the public to give them time and space to think about the report before they speak about it.
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