Soldiers, police and forest rangers continue search for missing plane carrying Malawi vice president
Soldiers, police officers and forest rangers are continuing to search for a missing military plane carrying Malawi’s vice president, a former first lady and eight others that is suspected to have crashed in a mountainous region in the north of the country
BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Soldiers, police officers and forest rangers continued to search Tuesday for a missing military plane carrying Malawi's vice president, a former first lady and eight others that is suspected to have crashed in a mountainous region in the north of the country.
The plane carrying 51-year-old Vice President Saulos Chilima and former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri went missing Monday morning while making the 45-minute flight from the southern African nation's capital, Lilongwe, to the city of Mzuzu, around 370 kilometers (230 miles) to the north.
Air traffic controllers told the plane not to attempt a landing at Mzuzu's airport because of bad weather and poor visibility and asked it to turn back to Lilongwe, President Lazarus Chakwera said. Air traffic control then lost contact with the aircraft and it disappeared from radar, he said.
Seven passengers and three military crew members were on board. The president described the aircraft as a small, propeller driven plane operated by the Malawian armed forces.
