LILONGWE, Malawi – A Zimbabwean pilot and his Dutch passenger died after their Cessna 210L Centurion crashed into Lake Malawi on Tuesday, officials said.
Charlotte Lemstra, a Dutch woman who was also on the aircraft was rescued by fisherman after suffering minor injuries, Malawi’s information minister Moses Nkunkuyu Kalongashawa said in a statement.
The bodies of Captain Fungai Majakwara, 50, and Frisco Westheim, 29, were recovered on Wednesday after a search involving local emergency services and fishermen in the district of Nkhotakota.
The aircraft is owned by Malawian company Nyasa Express, where Majakwara also worked as managing director.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation but Lemstra told investigators that Majakwara lost consciousness midflight, according to Nkhotakota district commissioner Ben Matengeni Tonho.
“We mobilised the support of locals and fishermen, and through their efforts, we managed to retrieve the bodies and the wreckage. The bodies have since been taken to a district hospital mortuary,” Tonho said.
The Cessna with registration 7Q-PFU took off from Tongole Airfield in Nkhotakota at 2PM on a short flight to Makhanga in Liwonde where it was expected to land at 3.15PM.
The aircraft crashed into Lake Malawi northeast of Benga, close to the shoreline.
