The BFU has released a preliminary report on the cause of the plane crash that claimed the lives of late former Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima and 8 others on June 10, 2024 in Chikangawa Forest.
According to the report, the plane carrying Chilima collided with a tree trunk before crashing on the ground in the forest.
“First, the aircraft collided with the trunk of a tree with the outer part of the right wing at a height of about 4.5 m above ground. Part of the honeycomb structure of the wing stuck in the tree trunk (Fig. 5). Based on the traces on the tree trunk and the right wing, it was determined that the aircraft did not have any relevant bank angle at the time of the collision
“At a distance of about 12 m north-west of the tree, the airplane’s lower fuselage surface had impacted the ground. The right wing tip and the right aileron were laying north-west of the impact site of the fuselage. Parts of the interior and some cockpit instruments were scattered over an area of about 60 m x 25 m,” reads part of the report.
It added: “The main wreckage had come to rest on the slope about 80 m from the tree it had collided with (Fig. 6). The fuselage had come apart and the engine were torn off the wings. The cowling of both engines had fractured abreast of the first compressor stage. The propellers of both engines were torn off the shafts.”
The report further says that: “The flap control lever was deformed. The landing gear was extended, the landing gear lever in the position “Down”.
