…plane never reached Mzuzu
..final moments, the plane made 360-degree turns
..Valentino Phiri’s Usisya claim another lie
The plane that killed Vice President Saulos Chilima made three 360-degree turns, which meant the occupants knew something was wrong, but nothing was recorded to show distress, nor was the emergency locator switched on.
In a bombshell interim report from Germany Aviation Investigations Authority (BFU), four mobile phones were switched on, meaning they could have communicated with their loved ones during the last moments and explain why Vice President Chilima was found with a rosary in his hand.
The report, however, is a political bomb for President Lazarus Chakwera, his Army Commander General Valentino Phiri and Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu, who peddled different lies and understandably are scared that a public inquiry will expose their lies to the public.
Chakwera’s lies
Mzuzu airport turned them
According to the BFU, the plane crashed at 10:16, and President Lazarus Chakwera spoke to the Malawi nation at 11.15 pm, some 13 hours later, lying to the Malawi nation that the plane had spoken to the Mzuzu Airport, which had advised them of bad weather and returned.
“The Flight Information Officer at Mzuzu Airport stated that at the airport, bad weather prevailed, and the conditions continued to deteriorate. Since the flight crew had not reported in by 0950 hrs, he had contacted them by radio. Five minutes later, he tried again, but both attempts failed. At 1005 hrs, he had called Lilongwe Area Control Centre to have the estimated arrival time of the airplane confirmed again.
“At 1012 hrs, the flight crew had reported in on the Mzuzu Tower frequency and in formed him that they were 20 NM away and intended an approach from the north. The Flight Information Officer communicated the weather information and that runway 17 was in use. He also informed them about his observation that east, south and west of the airport visibility was about 5 km. The flight crew had wanted to fly towards Ekwendeni to see if the weather conditions were better there. At 1017 hrs, he had contacted the flight crew by radio to find out about their altitude, but as with later attempts he did not receive any answer,” reads part of the report.
It does not corroborate the President’s version that it was advised to turn around; rather, it stipulates that it was told which areas were clear to approach landing. It will be in the public interest for President Chakwera to account for his statement.
Search efforts are hampered by thick, dense forest
The report aerial photograph shows nothing of the sort, as the President proclaimed on the night of 10th June; the area near Nthungwa village is bare, and there is a track that could explain the plane’s attempt to make a landing.
Plane search started after four hours
For only reasons President Lazarus Chakwera can explain, the Department of Transport, following international aviation protocol, started the search immediately after Mzuzu Airport told Kamuzu International Airport.
“According to the Flight Information Officer at Mzuzu Airport, after he had lost radio contact, he had called Lilongwe-Kamuzu Tower at 1042 hrs. They had informed him that they too did not have any radio contact with the flight crew. The controller called the flight crew on the Tower frequency, but could not establish contact. The flight crews of two aircraft flying at great altitudes were asked to attempt radio contact with the missing airplane. All attempts were in vain,” read the report.
The report said the Rescue Coordination Centre was activated at 11:31, almost an hour and a half after the plane had crash-landed. Interestingly the plane’s GPS tracker was still functioning until 14:25 which could have helped. Suspiciously, the actual search started five minutes after it went off.
“At about 1430 hrs, search and rescue personnel from Mzuzu Airport and others arrived at the region around Ekwendeni to search for the aeroplane,” reads the report and confirms that local told the investigators the most accurate pointer towards Raiply mobile tower.
“Later witnesses came forward whose information suggested that a crash in the area of the cell tower Raiply had occurred. Subsequently, the search and rescue personnel were sent there. According to the report of the RCC, the search was made more difficult by the low visibility. Employees of the Malawi RCC asked the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) at Johannesburg, South Africa, for support in finding the airplane’s ELT signal,” it says.
A day later, “Helicopters from Zambia, one US American military aircraft and some UAV assisted in the search. At about 1000 hrs, search and rescue personnel found the accident site and the wreckage.
“The Diagnostics Page was also analysed. It was determined that the GPS had switched off automatically about 2:45 hours after the aircraft’s impact (time of the accident), due to low battery power,” says the BFU report.
General Valentino and Kunkuyu lies
The report leaves out important details about what the plane’s owners, the Malawi Defence Force, did or did not do, but it does confirm that MDF Commander General Valentino Phiri and Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu went out to tell lies.
They claimed investigations would reveal the final communication and had some strange presentations that the plane had reached Usisya in Nkhatabay, a fact that the flight data proved to be a lie.
“The question is, why did they tell lies from the President to the General? They lied, lied and lied,” charged a relative of one of the deceased persons.
The two also claimed the weather was a factor, a point that the BFU says is still being verified.
Recordings at the airport- not done or deleted, what about Airwing Data
The aeroplane was not equipped with a Cockpit Voice Recorder or a Flight Data Recorder. Relevant aviation regulations did not require these recording devices, despite claims from General Valentino Phiri that they were equipped.
However, questions and suspicions will be raised as the Airport Towers did not record the flights or suspicions will reign that they were deleted as they contain things the public should not know.
“The air navigation service in Lilongwe had no recorded radar data of the two flights on the day of the accident. The navigation system Garmin Aera 760 had recorded position data (GPS position and altitude above time). The BFU read out the data. In addition to the data of the accident flight, position data of flights from 7 March 2024 onwards could be saved. The recording of the accident flight began at 0846:48 hrs at the apron of the departure airport and ended at 1016:14 hrs in the immediate vicinity of the accident site,” reads the report.
More equipment in the plane including the The Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) was found in the wreckage. The switch in the cockpit was in position “ARM”, the one on the ELT itself in the position “OFF”
“The Emergency Locator Transmitter Narco Avionics ELT10 was mounted in the cabin on the left fuselage side next to the door. It was an ELT which transmits signals on the frequencies 121,5 MHz and 243 MHz. The ELT was examined. It was determined that it was not functioning because its battery had expired in 2004. According to the Malawi Air Force, for such devices, there were no spare parts and no budget for new 406 MHz ELT,” reads the sad report.
What really happened- Only a Public inquiry can reveal
From criminal negligence to false public information, President Chakwera has a moral obligation to immediately institute a public inquiry for Malawians to hear from the horse’s mouths on their roles and actions leading to and after the plane crash.
The theories that President Chakwera, General Valentino Phiri, and Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu have been debunked, and serious omissions, from servicing the plane to not recording the flight, will continue to fuel conspiracy theories about the administration’s hand in the accident.
Why is Chakwera afraid of public inquiry?
The President is known for his “do nothing” strategy, hoping Malawians will “forget quickly”, but he has miscalculated the impact of the death of his former deputy. Some sections of the public christened him “Mr Chikangawa”, directly implying his involvement.
A full report could be released during the campaign period less than a year before the next elections, and it would be a political disaster, alongside the first anniversary of the accident commemorations, which could end his presidency and damage his legacy.
The President, who says one thing and does another, promised to get answers about what happened during the funeral service of the Late Chilima on 16 June in Lilongwe, but he has shown himself scared to institute a public inquiry, whose conclusions could bring closure to the families and the nation at large.
The lingering question is, what scares President Lazarus Chakwera from instituting a Commission of Inquiry? Already, some are planning to move courts to force the President to institute one, and the Investigator Magazine has been informed.
