Malawi: Ex-Military Pilot Tells Inquiry Weather Made Chilima Flight Unsafe - 'I Would Not Have Taken Off'

What the report says

A retired Malawian military pilot has told a parliamentary committee investigating the Chikangawa plane crash that the aircraft carrying former vice-president Saulos Chilima should not have taken off because of weather conditions at Mzuzu Airdrome. The testimony was reported by Nyasa Times and distributed by AllAfrica. The pilot, Brigadier General Juvenalis Mtende, said he believed the conditions were poor enough that the flight should have been cancelled, and that the situation had not improved materially since the crash.

Mtende, who has experience flying VVIP missions, said an experienced crew would have understood the risks and that proceeding with the flight was extremely dangerous. He also said he would have told Chilima personally that the aircraft could not safely depart. According to the report, he stressed that safety should override rank, protocol or expectations, even in politically sensitive flights.

The comments add to scrutiny of the inquiry into why the aircraft was allowed to leave despite concerns about weather and landing conditions at Mzuzu. The crash killed Chilima and eight others on 10 June 2024. More generally, aviation safety investigations often focus on decision-making before departure, weather assessments and crew judgment, though those broader points are background context rather than details established beyond the cited report.