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Remember Deketeke
Herald Correspondent
, Captain Fungai Majakwara (50), died in Malawi after his plane crashed into Lake Malawi, killing him and one passenger while another passenger sustained injuries and was hospitalised.
The bodies of the pilot and the passenger, who were aboard the privately-owned aircraft when tragedy struck on Tuesday, were discovered yesterday, District Commissioner for Malawi’s Nkhotakota area, Mr Ben Matengeni Tonho, said.
The plane was a Cessna C210 aircraft, with registration number 7QPFU, which can typically carry six people and belonged to a Malawian company, Nyasa Express.
On the fatal flight, it was carrying a pilot and two passengers and went down in the Nkhotakota District, approximately 200km northeast of the capital, Lilongwe.
Capt Majakwara was the managing director at Nyasa Express, and also an experienced flight captain with a demonstrated history of working in the aviation industry, skilled in airline, corporate, and charter flying.
While two people died, a Dutch female passenger, Ms Charlotte Lemstra (24), was rescued by a group of fishermen and is in hospital where she is being treated for minor injuries.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, with investigations already underway but information from the survivor indicates that the pilot lost consciousness mid-air during the flight from Nkhotakota to Liwonde, a township about 235 km south of Lilongwe.
Mr Matengeni said the bodies of the two were discovered yesterday after rescue efforts were intensified.
“We mobilised the support of locals and fishermen. Through their efforts we managed to get hold of the
bodies and the wreckage. The bodies have since been taken to a district hospital mortuary.”
The aircraft crashed 45 minutes before landing.
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Lake Malawi is Africa’s third largest lake and is around 580 kilometres long, more than half the length of the country.
This incident follows another fatal aviation accident in Malawi on June 10, in which an aircraft crash claimed the lives of Saulosi Klaus Chilima, the country’s Vice President, and eight others. Investigations into that crash are ongoing.
In an interview with The Herald yesterday, a family member said Mr Majakwara had left a wife and three children.
His family is based in Lilongwe.
Yesterday, a Malawian daily publication, The Nyasa Times, reported on the tragic plane crash.
“In the statement, the company says the aircraft had three people onboard: a female passenger who has been located and taken to hospital, another passenger and the pilot who were found dead.
”According to the statement, the aircraft 7Q-PFU departed from Tongole Airfield in Nkhotakota Game Reserve on Tuesady at 2.06pm en route to Liwonde National Park.
“The company further says that the last satellite position it received placed the aircraft approximately 70 kilometres south of Nkhotakota, near the shoreline of Lake Malawi,” The Nyasa Times reported.
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