According to the presidential office, a plane carrying Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine other people has gone missing after it failed to make a programmed landing on Monday,
In a statement by the presidential office and cabinet, the Malawi Defense Force Aircraft carrying Chilima and others left the capital of Lilongwe at 9:17 a.m. local time (3.17 a.m. ET).
The plane had been programmed to land at the Mzuzu International Airport, about 380 km (240 miles) to the north of Lilongwe, but did not arrive and is no longer detectable by radar, according to authorities.
It added that the president had ordered national and local authorities to “conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft.”
The president then ordered a search operation and canceled a trip to the Bahamas.
“All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far,” the presidential statement read.
Monday night, President Chakwera said air traffic control in Mzuzu had advised the aircraft not to attempt a landing due to “poor visibility” and bad weather, and to return to the capital Lilongwe.
Signals from telecommunications towers reported the plane’s last known position to a 10-kilometer (6-mile) radius in a forest reserve, which has since become the area of focus for the search and rescue operation, Chakwera said.
Search and rescue operations “will continue until the plane is found,” he added
