The ongoing parliamentary inquiry into the tragic Malawi Defence Force (MDF) Dornier aircraft crash has taken a dramatic turn after former Minister of Information and MCP MP Moses Kunkuyu called for investigators to begin their questioning with him over alleged remarks linked to the aircraft’s “black box.”
Kunkuyu
In a widely circulated Facebook post, Kunkuyu described the parliamentary probe as a “critical national exercise” that must deliver answers capable of bringing closure to bereaved families and the nation at large.
The inquiry, which is being led by Parliament’s Defence and Security Committee under Walter Nyamilandu, is seeking to establish the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash that shocked the country and raised questions about military aviation safety.
Kunkuyu used his post to stress the global importance of Flight Data Recorders (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) — commonly referred to as black boxes — in aviation investigations, noting that they are central to reconstructing the final moments of any aircraft accident.
He explained that the CVR captures cockpit conversations and radio transmissions, while the FDR records technical flight data such as altitude, speed, engine performance, and system behaviour, all of which are crucial in determining the cause of a crash.
In what has now sparked political and public debate, Kunkuyu suggested that if there are allegations that any individual may have information regarding a “black box” linked to the crashed MDF Dornier aircraft, such leads must be treated with urgency.
He further argued that investigators should not delay or deprioritise such claims, insisting that those allegedly connected to such information — including public officials — should be questioned early in the inquiry process.
“If people of perceived good repute in society — including Cabinet ministers, Members of Parliament, and civil society leaders — are believed to have information relating to the black box, then that line of inquiry cannot be ignored,” his post reads in part.
Kunkuyu went further to state that he himself should be among the first individuals to be questioned if his name has been linked to any alleged comments regarding the matter, describing it as a necessary step to ensure transparency and credibility in the investigation.
“Hon. Nyamilandu and team, the first step must be to establish the position of any black box associated with this aircraft. Invite everyone who may have information first… the first to be interviewed should be Moses Kunkuyu,” he wrote.
The remarks have sparked renewed public interest in the parliamentary probe, with observers noting the unusual nature of a sitting Cabinet minister publicly volunteering to be the first witness in a sensitive national investigation.
Aviation experts continue to emphasize that black boxes remain the most critical piece of evidence in air crash investigations globally, often determining the direction of technical inquiries and safety recommendations.
The MDF Dornier crash remains one of the most tragic recent aviation incidents involving the Malawi Defence Force, prompting calls for full transparency, accountability, and improvements in military aviation safety systems.
Parliament’s inquiry is expected to hear testimony from military officials, aviation experts, and government representatives as it seeks to establish the cause of the crash and prevent future occurrences.
As the investigation progresses, Kunkuyu’s remarks have added a new political dimension to an already sensitive national matter, with attention now turning to whether the committee will act on his call to be the first witness — and whether the “black box question” will indeed define the early direction of the probe.
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One reply on “Kunkuyu Calls for MPs to Question Him First in MDF Dornier Crash Investigation Over Black Box Claims”
As a former Air Malawi first officer on the HS 748 and BAC 1-11 aircrafts, I know that CVR and Flight Data Recorders are mandatory in civil aircrafts. However, the military are NOT tied to the same stringent measures since their operational use differs from airlines. The Dornier is a small aircraft, despite it passenger capacity; its powerplants can not support to successfully power the high voltage power inverters required to support these systems without loss to performance. Thus, many military services often dispense with these often heavy ancillary equipment.
Most crucially, having these equipment on during bad weather flying which must demand routing power to de-icing systems and engine performance would most likely have a negative impact on the flight. An example, if you needed to climb to avoid bad weather, that climb would likely be shallow – possibly 200 ft per minute instead of an emergency climb above 500 ft per minute or greater. Secondly, the aircraft was full almost to it maximum all-up-weight. This alone would have made that 200 ft per minute climb a near impossible. Mzuzu and Chikangawa are 4500 ft above sea level. At that altitude alone, the aircraft performance is already very degraded before all the additional passenger, fuel and any cargo on board. The aircraft itself was almost 30 years old, and possibly beyond its safe civil operational use.
The aircrew complement must also be assessed for competence, recency and knowledge of the area they were operating in; before looking into the flight operational management and government airwing funding systems side including aircraft maintenance logs and decision-making capacity.
My 30 years of flying feels like this was a Swiss cheese effect where everything that would have caused an accident unfortunately, just lined up so perfectly, (the cheese has many holes that on this particular day, inserting a string through one side led to the string correctly transiting through to the other side).
The Dornier (and shorts Sky Van aircrafts) cannot fly on a single engine at full maxi weight let alone in bad weather like that.
As a former Air Malawi first officer on the HS 748 and BAC 1-11 aircrafts, I know that CVR and Flight Data Recorders are mandatory in civil aircrafts. However, the military are NOT tied to the same stringent measures since their operational use differs from airlines. The Dornier is a small aircraft, despite it passenger capacity; its powerplants can not support to successfully power the high voltage power inverters required to support these systems without loss to performance. Thus, many military services often dispense with these often heavy ancillary equipment.
Most crucially, having these equipment on during bad weather flying which must demand routing power to de-icing systems and engine performance would most likely have a negative impact on the flight. An example, if you needed to climb to avoid bad weather, that climb would likely be shallow – possibly 200 ft per minute instead of an emergency climb above 500 ft per minute or greater. Secondly, the aircraft was full almost to it maximum all-up-weight. This alone would have made that 200 ft per minute climb a near impossible. Mzuzu and Chikangawa are 4500 ft above sea level. At that altitude alone, the aircraft performance is already very degraded before all the additional passenger, fuel and any cargo on board. The aircraft itself was almost 30 years old, and possibly beyond its safe civil operational use.
The aircrew complement must also be assessed for competence, recency and knowledge of the area they were operating in; before looking into the flight operational management and government airwing funding systems side including aircraft maintenance logs and decision-making capacity.
My 30 years of flying feels like this was a Swiss cheese effect where everything that would have caused an accident unfortunately, just lined up so perfectly, (the cheese has many holes that on this particular day, inserting a string through one side led to the string correctly transiting through to the other side).
The Dornier (and shorts Sky Van aircrafts) cannot fly on a single engine at full maxi weight let alone in bad weather like that.