2024 Chikangawa Dornier 228 crash
Malawi Defence Force Dornier 228 · Crashed during landing due to Pilot error
From Kamuzu International Airport (LLW) to Mzuzu Airport (ZZU)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 9 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 9
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Dornier 228
- Aircraft type
- Dornier 228
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- MAF-T03
- Operator
- Malawi Defence Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 9
- Route
- From Kamuzu International Airport (LLW)To Mzuzu Airport (ZZU)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Personnel issues › Psychological
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
On 10 June 2024, a Malawian Defence Force Dornier 228 carrying Vice-President of Malawi Saulos Chilima, former First Lady Patricia Shanil Muluzi, and seven other occupants, crashed in Chikangawa Forest Reserve in Nkhata Bay District; all on board died in Malawi's deadliest aviation accident.
At the time of the crash, the aircraft and its passengers were en route from Lilongwe to Mzuzu Airport in the Northern Region to attend a funeral.
Background
The aircraft involved, manufactured in 1987, was a Dornier 228-228(K) which belonged to the Malawi Air Force. The aircraft had accumulated 3,492 flight hours. It had previously been used to transport President Lazarus Chakwera several times and had conducted its previous flight hours before the crash.
On 10 June 2024, the aircraft, carrying Vice-President Saulos Chilima, former First Lady Patricia Shanil Muluzi, and seven other occupants, including members of Chilima's staff and security detail and three military crew, left Kamuzu International Airport in the capital Lilongwe at 9:17 a.m. CAT, and was scheduled to arrive at Mzuzu Airport in the Northern Region at 10:02 a.m. The passengers were on their way to attend the funeral for former government minister Ralph Kasambara, and were to return to Lilongwe afterward.
Accident
The aircraft disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Lilongwe, with aviation officials unable to contact the aircraft. The disappearance prompted a search and rescue operation to locate the aircraft.
Poor weather conditions prevailed along the intended flight path, and eyewitnesses reported an aircraft crash in the Chikangawa Forest area. Chilima's phone was reported by local news sources to have been last detected at around 10:30 a.m. Authorities said that the aircraft had turned back from Mzuzu due to poor visibility.
The wreckage of the aircraft was found by Malawi Defence Force soldiers in Chikangawa Forest on 11 June. No survivors were found. Authorities described the aircraft as "completely destroyed", with its occupants believed to have died on impact.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Chakwera called for an independent investigation into the crash, saying that the Malawi Defence Force cannot conduct an investigation "that can be credible on its own". Government spokesperson Moses Kunkuyu announced that the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) would investigate the accident with a representative of General Atomics also joining the investigation.
Final Report
According to the final report released on 6 October 2025 by the BFU, the cause of the accident is attributable to pilot error. The pilots, according to the final report, continued to fly under instrument meteorological conditions despite the conditions requiring visual flight rules. Three other factors contributed to the accident, related to human error and the pilots' mental state. Some recommendations are also made.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2024 Chikangawa Dornier 228 crash” (revision 1357109371, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2024 Chikangawa Dornier 228 crash
- Revision
- 1357109371 · 2026-05-31 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q126489536
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2024 Chikangawa Dornier 228 crash" (page 77125033, revision 1357109371)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.