Malawi Vice President, Saulos Chilima

A military aircraft conveying the 51-year-old Vice president of Malawi and nine others has been reported missing.

The plane carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima left the capital, Lilongwe but failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport about 370 kilometres (230 miles) to the north around 45 minutes later on Monday, June 10.

Aviation authorities lost contact with the plane when it “went off radar,” the statement from Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera’s office said.

Chakwera ordered a search operation and canceled a trip to the Bahamas, his office said.

“All efforts to make contact with the aircraft since it went off radar have failed thus far,” the statement said.

Chakwera was informed of the missing plane by Gen. Valentino Phiri, the head of the Malawian armed forces. The president had ordered national and local authorities to “conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft,” his office said.