CCTV footage showing former Vice-President Saulos Chilima boarding the aircraft shortly before the fatal Chikangawa plane crash has been presented to the Parliamentary Ad-hoc Committee investigating the incident. The footage, tendered by former Kamuzu International Airport security officer Alex Simenti, captures passengers boarding the Dornier aircraft on 10 June 2024, hours before it crashed in […]
CCTV footage showing former Vice-President Saulos Chilima boarding the aircraft shortly before the fatal Chikangawa plane crash has been presented to the Parliamentary Ad-hoc Committee investigating the incident.
The footage, tendered by former Kamuzu International Airport security officer Alex Simenti, captures passengers boarding the Dornier aircraft on 10 June 2024, hours before it crashed in the Chikangawa Forest.
Simenti, who was the officer in charge at the airport that day, told the committee that, according to procedure, all passengers were thoroughly searched before boarding, except Dr Chilima.
However, committee members raised questions after reviewing the footage.
They noted that some senior officials who had gone to see off Chilima appeared to pass through security checkpoints without being searched.
The footage has also raised fresh questions over earlier testimony about what happened as the aircraft was preparing to take off.
Members observed that the video appeared to contradict evidence from a witness who claimed that an unidentified woman closed the aircraft door.
The committee has since indicated that the witness will be recalled to explain the apparent contradiction.
The Dornier aircraft carrying Chilima and others crashed in the Chikangawa Forest on 10 June 2024, killing everyone on board.
The CCTV footage is now expected to form part of the evidence being examined by the committee as it seeks to establish the circumstances surrounding the crash.
