[5] On 10 June 2024, the aircraft, carrying Vice-President Saulos Chilima, former First Lady Patricia Shanil Muluzi, and seven other occupants,[6] including members of Chilima's staff and security detail[1] and three military crew,[7] left Kamuzu International Airport in the capital Lilongwe at 9:17 a.m. CAT, and was scheduled to arrive at Mzuzu Airport in the Northern Region at 10:02 a.m.[8] The passengers were on their way to attend the funeral for former government minister Ralph Kasambara, and were to return to Lilongwe afterward.

[11] Poor weather conditions prevailed along the intended flight path, and eyewitnesses reported an aircraft crash in the Chikangawa Forest area.

Chilima's phone was reported by local news sources to have been last detected at around 10:30 a.m.[9] Authorities said that the aircraft had turned back from Mzuzu due to poor visibility.

[1] President Lazarus Chakwera cancelled a visit to the Bahamas after learning about the disappearance from Malawi Defence Force chief General Paul Valentino Phiri, and ordered a search and rescue operation.

[16] Clashes erupted between police and mourners as Chilima's remains were being transported to Ntcheu on the evening of 16 June, and a vehicle in his convoy ran over several pedestrians as it was passing through Dedza, killing four people and injuring 12 others.

[17] Chilima was buried on 17 June in his home village of Nsipe, in a ceremony that was also attended by Chakwera and his three living predecessors as president, Bakili Muluzi, Joyce Banda and Peter Mutharika.

[18] On 21 June, Michael Usi, the deputy leader of Chilima's political party, the United Transformation Movement (UTM), was appointed as the new vice president.