Black box audio retrieved from Malawi’s plane wreckage

Lilongwe, July 13 (IANS) The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) says it has managed to retrieve audio and other material from the black box of the plane that crashed and killed Malawian Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others.

The BFU made the announcement on its website, saying this would help in the efforts to find the reasons of the crash of the aircraft, a military Dornier 228-202(K), on June 10.

“During the investigation of the wreckage, a Global Positioning System (GPS) was secured and later transported to the BFU. In the recorder and avionics laboratory of the BFU, the data of the accident flight and other flights stored in the GPS could be read out. These will now be analysed very thoroughly. This will take some time,” says the statement.

Upon request of the government of Malawi through the German government, BFU launched the investigation in collaboration with Malawi’s Civil Aviation Authority and Malawi Defence Force, reports Xinhua news agency.

A domestic flight of the military airplane from Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, to the northern city of Mzuzu ended tragically as the plane crashed into a hill within Chikangawa Forest reserve in what the BFU describes as “marginal weather conditions”.

The German organisation says they conducted investigations at the accident site, the aerodrome of departure and destination as well as the home base of the airplane.

According to BFU, the Interim Report will be published after the lengthy analysis and upon concluding the investigation, and will include the facts gathered to that point.

“The BFU will publish the analysis of the facts, the conclusions, causes and possible safety recommendations in a Final Report later on,” the statement reads in part.

Following the accident and the death of the vice president, calls for independent investigations were made by political parties, some civil society leaders, and the family of Chilima, to which President Lazarus Chakwera heeded.

–IANS

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