The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) is underway; the cause of the plane crash that killed Malawi’s late Vice President Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima and eight others.
In a statement, Information Minister, Moses Kunkuyu assured that Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) will publish an interim report on the military plane crash that resulted in the tragic loss of Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others on its website this Friday, August 30th.
Kunkuyu stated that although the German experts have not yet submitted a report, they conducted inspections at the crash site shortly after the incident and provided a verbal briefing to the government and the families of the deceased.
“The experts retrieved a Global Positioning System (GPS) from the wreckage and have indicated that they will carry out a thorough analysis of the GPS, as well as an analysis of the departure and destination aerodromes, which they also inspected,” reads part of the statement.
Kunkuyu’s statement followed an interview in which President Lazarus Chakwera spoke with a DW journalist. During the interview, Chakwera’s responses led to the impression that the German experts had already submitted their report to the Malawian Government.
“The investigators had mentioned in this briefing to the bereaved family and the Government that once their laboratory analysis in Germany is done, which they said would take some time, the Bureau would produce a report and release it to the public directly through their website to certify and safeguard the independence of the Bureau’s findings about what caused the plane crash,”said Kumkuyu.
Again, Leader of Opposition in Parliament, George Chaponda demanded that the government release the report.
Chaponda said that the report has been completed and is being withheld by the government.
However, Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda firmly countered this claim, making it unequivocally clear that no report has been released by the German investigators as of yet.
He informed the house that the investigators had only briefed the bereaved families on the preliminary findings from the recovered plane parts, which are still undergoing further analysis.
During a domestic passenger flight of the military airplane Do228-202(K) from Lilongwe to Mzuzu, the airplane crashed into the slope of a hill in marginal weather conditions.
All nine occupants suffered fatal injuries and the airplane was demolished.
On request of the government of the Republic of Malawi to the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU), representing the state of design and manufacturer, dispatched an investigation team to Malawi which was supported by an expert of the aircraft manufacturer.
The investigation team, supported by experts of the Civil Aviation Administration of Malawi and the Malawi Armed Forces, conducted investigations at the accident site, the aerodrome of departure and destination as well as the home base of the airplane.
During the investigation of the wreckage, a Global Positioning System (GPS) was secured and later transported to the BFU. In the recorder and avionics laboratory of the BFU, the data of the accident flight and other flights stored in the GPS could be read out. These will now be analysed very thoroughly. This will take some time.
In accordance with Annex 13 to the Convention of International Civil Aviation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Republic of Malawi delegated the conduct of the investigation to the BFU. Presumably at the end of August, the BFU will publish an Interim Report in German and English on the website: www.bfu-web.de/EN/. The Interim Report will include the facts that have been gathered up to that point.
The BFU will publish the analysis of the facts, the conclusions, causes and possible safety recommendations in a Final Report later on.
Investigations by the BFU are to be carried out separately and independently of judicial or administrative proceedings. The sole purpose of an investigation by the BFU is accident prevention. Investigation reports and safety recommendations do not contain any statements of guilt, liability or claims.
