Unyielding Panic: Authorities Scramble As Vice President’s Chopper Goes Missing In The Air

There’s escalating concern and ambiguity as Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima remains unaccounted for after the plane he was aboard went missing.

Efforts by Malawian aviation authorities to establish contact with the aircraft have yielded no results since Monday morning.

As per an official statement from Malawi authorities, the Vice President was traveling with nine other passengers when the aircraft disappeared. The statement indicates that the Defence Force Aircraft departed from Lilongwe at 9:17 am but failed to arrive at Mzuzu International Airport as scheduled for its 10:02 am landing.

Upon realizing that the flight had vanished from radar, General Valentino Phiri, the commander of Malawi Defense Forces, promptly informed the country’s head of state, Lazarus Chakwera, about the situation.

In response to the update from the Defence Force’s Commander, President Chakwera has canceled his planned departure to the Bahamas and has instructed all regional and national authorities to initiate an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the missing aircraft.

The public is urged to maintain composure, avoid spreading misinformation, and await further updates from the authorities.

The statement concludes by assuring the public that they will be kept informed of any developments in the situation as soon as concrete facts are established.

This development comes just a month after the disappearance of a plane carrying Iran’s former president, Ibrahim Raisi, and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, along with six others near the border with Azerbaijan on May 19, 2024.

It was later confirmed that the aircraft, a US-built twin-engine Bell 212, had crashed in a mountainous and forested region, resulting in the loss of all lives on board.

This incident follows closely after the tragic death of Kenya’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Francis Ogolla, who perished in a helicopter crash in Elgeyo Marakwet county on April 18, along with 11 others, leaving only two survivors.

Who is Saulos Chilima?

• Prior to his political career, Dr Chilima held key leadership roles in multinational companies like Unilever and Coca Cola
• He is 51 years oldHe is married with two children
• Dr Chilima is described on the government’s website as a “performer”, “workaholic” and “an achiever”
• He holds a PhD in Knowledge Management