Zim pilot dies in Malawi plane crash

Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWEAN pilot, Mr Fungai Majakwara (50), died in Malawi after his plane crashed into Lake Malawi on Tuesday killing him and one passenger and leaving another passenger hospitalised.
The bodies of the Zimbabwean pilot and passenger of the privately-owned aircraft were discovered yesterday, district commissioner for Malawi’s Nkhotakota District, Mr Ben Matengeni Tonho said.
The survivor is a Dutch female passenger, Ms Charlotte Lemstra (24), who was rescued by fishermen and is currently in hospital being treated for minor injuries.
The plane was a Cessna C210 aircraft with registration number 7QPFU, which can carry six people, and belonged to a Malawian company, Nyasa Express.
The fatal flight, which had two passengers, went down in the Nkhotakota District, approximately 200 km northeast of the capital, Lilongwe, 45 minutes before it was due to land.
Mr Majakwara was the managing director of Nyasa Express, and an experienced flight captain with a demonstrated history of working in the aviation industry, skilled in airline, corporate, and charter flying.
The cause of the crash is not yet known and investigations are 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 deceased were discovered yesterday after rescue efforts intensified.
“We mobilised the support of locals and fishermen. Through their efforts, we managed to find the bodies and wreckage of the plane. The bodies have since been taken to the district hospital mortuary,” he said.
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 army helicopter crash claimed the life of the country’s Vice President Saulosi Klaus Chilima, and eight others. Investigations into that crash are still ongoing.
In an interview yesterday family sources said Mr Majakwara had left a wife and three children. His family is based in Lilongwe.