Malawi: MPs Demand Answers After Army and Police Clash Over Chilima Wreckage Discovery

A baffling one-hour discrepancy has emerged over the moment the wreckage of the aircraft carrying former Vice-President Saulos Chilima and eight others was discovered — raising fresh questions over the desperate search operation and the preservation of vital evidence.

Parliament’s Ad-hoc Committee investigating the Chikangawa plane crash has expressed concern after being presented with two conflicting times for the discovery of the wreckage.

The Malawi Defence Force (MDF) recorded the discovery at 10:58am, while the Malawi Police Service (MPS) reportedly put the time at 9:30am — a difference of more than an hour.

Committee chairperson Walter Nyamilandu said the discrepancy was far from a minor detail, warning that the precise timeline could have major implications for determining whether anyone aboard the aircraft could have survived and how evidence at the crash scene was handled.

“We need to firm up a timeline, and we will continue with our investigations to corroborate information from Malawi Police and MDF to determine the exact time, because that has major implications,” Nyamilandu said.

The revelations came after the committee questioned former commander of the MDF 101 Brigade, Major General Richard Tobias Chagonapanja, on Tuesday.

The conflicting accounts have also raised questions about how the various search teams were coordinated during the crucial hours after the aircraft disappeared.

Nyamilandu said the committee will now travel to the Northern Region for two days to verify evidence already handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

In Mzuzu, MPs are expected to question police officers who photographed the crash scene and secured property recovered from the wreckage.

The committee will also meet members of the Fire Brigade involved in the search-and-rescue operation, as well as volunteer eyewitnesses who may shed further light on what happened during the frantic search.

NIGHT SEARCH CONTROVERSY

Earlier, Chagonapanja told the committee that the MDF rejected a proposal to suspend the search overnight on June 10, 2024, despite difficult weather conditions and concerns about preparedness for night operations.

Other stakeholders had reportedly proposed a tactical pause until dawn because of thick fog, poor visibility and the risks associated with continuing the operation in darkness.

But Chagonapanja said the military command decided the search should continue.

He told the committee that, after consulting then MDF General Commander Paul Valentino Phiri, he was directed to allow military teams to remain in the search area.

By around 10pm, he said, most teams had withdrawn, leaving MDF soldiers and Raiply patrols on the ground.

The wreckage was eventually located 27 kilometres north of Kasitu Camp.

Chagonapanja said the search had been hampered by a combination of treacherous terrain, severe weather and the absence of a functioning Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT).

The aircraft was flying through mountainous and heavily forested terrain, while thick fog and poor visibility made the search even more difficult.

He also referred to interim findings by Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU), which indicated that the aircraft’s ELT was not operational at the time of the crash because its battery had expired.

Without an effective electronic distress signal, rescuers were unable to use the system to pinpoint the aircraft’s location, further complicating the hunt through the vast and rugged Chikangawa forest.

WITNESS TESTIMONY CHALLENGED

But the inquiry took another dramatic turn when Chagonapanja challenged the testimony of key witness Ephraim Duma, telling the committee that the account presented by Duma was false.

Duma had previously given evidence to the committee about what he claimed to have witnessed before the aircraft came down, making his testimony one of the more closely scrutinised accounts in the investigation.

The committee must now weigh the competing accounts as it attempts to establish a definitive timeline of the crash, the search operation and the discovery of the wreckage.

The investigation comes as MPs continue to examine what happened in the hours before and after the aircraft disappeared — and whether crucial opportunities were lost during the frantic search for survivors.

By Nyasa Times.