Investigations into pilot’s death begin
INVESTIGATIONS into circumstances surrounding the death of Zimbabwean pilot Captain Fungai Majakwara in a plane crash in Malawi have commenced, with a view to establishing what happened and draw lessons from it.
This comes as the body of Capt Majakwara (48) arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday ahead of burial tomorrow at Glen Forest Memorial Park.
Capt Majakwara suddenly collapsed at the controls moments after take-off, leaving the small plane to fly on autopilot for several miles before plummeting into Lake Malawi, killing him and one passenger, while the other passenger sustained injuries and was hospitalised.
In an interview yesterday, Captain Jonathan Majakwara, who is also a pilot and father to Capt Fungai Majakwara, said the body arrived yesterday and will lie in state at a funeral parlour before burial on Sunday.
“There will be investigations which will be conducted in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s standards. The objective of the investigations is to establish the cause of the accident in order to facilitate corrective action to the systems, aircraft and aviation procedures.
“It involves aircraft manufacturers and operators of the aircraft and civil aviation authority of Malawi. It is not meant to apportion blame but improve aviation standards,” said Capt Majakwara who has more than 30 years of aviation experience holding different positions both locally, regionally and on the continent.
There were tests that were also done on the two bodies and results are yet to be determined.
Capt Majakwara said preliminary investigations had shown that his son lost consciousness, leaving the plane to fly on autopilot for several miles before crashing.
Capt Majakwara Senior is a former SADC Civil Aviation authorities representative at the International Civil Aviation Organisation and holds several aviation certificates that include for a pilot, air traffic control licence, airport management certificate among others.
He described his son as disciplined and hardworking saying he was happy that his son had followed in his footsteps. Born on September 17, 1976, Capt Fungai Majakwara went to John Cowie Primary School in Rusape, Greaves Adventist in Montreal, Canada and Heritage School in Harare up to A Level.
He went to Port Elizabeth in South Africa to train as a pilot where he got a private pilot certificate before further training in Johannesburg.
He returned home before working in Botswana, Victoria Falls and was also once with the Zimbabwe Leaf Tobacco before he went to Malawi as managing director of Nyasa Express where he was the chief pilot.
Capt Fungai Majakwara left behind a wife, Elsie and three children.
Mourners are gathered at Plot 2, Xenia, Mazowe River Road, Christon Bank. On Thursday Zimbabwean Ambassador to Malawi, Dr Nancy Saungweme, sent a condolence message to the family of Capt Fungai Majakwara.
She described him as an astute and dedicated businessman whose vision was sadly cut short.