LILONGWE, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Marginal weather conditions with poor visibility are a possible cause of the plane crash that killed former Malawian Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight others on June 10, according to an interim report on the accident.

The report, released on Friday by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU), said there was "fog and deteriorating weather" near Mzuzu Airport, where the plane was destined to land.

The German investigators managed to retrieve GPS data tracing the aircraft's flight on the material day from take-off at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, to the crash site in Chikangawa Forest near Mzuzu.

However, according to the report, some data regarding the communications between the crew and navigation services were not recorded as the military aircraft, Dornier 228-202(K), Malawi Air Force, had no Cockpit Voice Recorder or Flight Data Recorder.

"The radio communications between the flight crew and the air navigation service units at Lilongwe, and radio communications between the flight crew and the Flight Information Service were not recorded," said the interim report, signed by Jens Friedemann, investigator in charge at the BFU.

The German investigators said in the report that they are compiling the final report on the accident and that it is expected to be released by the summer of 2025.

The BFU has since made safety recommendations for the concerned Malawian authorities.

"The minister of defense of the Republic of Malawi should ensure that aircraft of the Malawi Air Force transporting persons are equipped with a functional Emergency Locator Transmitter," said the report. "The minister of transport and public works of the Republic of Malawi should ensure that up-to-date information concerning radio navigation aids in Malawi is available to aircraft crews at all times."

The military plane crashed mid-flight during a domestic trip from Lilongwe to Mzuzu with Chilima, former First Lady Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri, and seven others on board.

The former vice president and his team were scheduled to proceed by land from Mzuzu Airport to the lakeshore district of Nkhata Bay to attend the funeral of Ralph Kasambara, the country's former attorney general and justice minister. Enditem

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