1964–1976: an army first, aircraft later

Malawi’s armed forces grew out of the British King’s African Rifles. When Nyasaland became independent Malawi in 1964, the 1st Battalion of the King’s African Rifles at Cobbe Barracks in Zomba became the Malawi Rifles, and for its first twelve years the new army had no aircraft of its own. Its officers were at first British expatriates; Graciano Matewere, the first black commander, was promoted major general in 1972. Malawi became a republic under Hastings Kamuzu Banda on 6 July 1966. Wikipedia’s account of these years, which draws on contemporary studies of African armies, says nothing of military flying before 1976, and none of the sources checked for this page describe any.

1976–1990: German aircraft and French helicopters

According to Wikipedia, the air arm was established with German help in 1976, when Malawi took delivery of six single-engined Dornier Do 27 liaison aircraft. Eight Dornier Do 28 light twins followed, and France supplied helicopters: one Alouette III, one AS 350 and one AS 355 Ecureuil and three SA 330 Puma. In 1986 a BAe 125-800 jet arrived for VIP work, and between 1986 and 1989 four Dornier 228 twin turboprops, the type that would carry the air wing into the 2020s. The pattern was clear from the start: light transports and helicopters for moving troops, officials and supplies. No source checked records a combat aircraft, an armed helicopter or a jet trainer in Malawian service, then or since.

1990–2022: a small transport and liaison arm

In 1990 two Douglas C-47s re-engined with PT6A turboprops came from the United States, Wikipedia says; defenceWeb’s 2013 order of battle lists them as Basler Turbo 67s, alongside three Dornier 228s, a Do 28D-2, a King Air C90 and six helicopters (two AS 350s, an AS 355, an AS 532 Cougar and two Pumas) in what it then called the Army Air Wing. Wikipedia now lists the Basler, the Do 27, the BAe 125, the King Air, the Alouette III and an AS 365 Dauphin as stored or withdrawn; defenceWeb places the Dauphins with the separate Police Air Wing. The most important change of the period came in 2022, when two Xian MA600 turboprop transports were donated, which defenceWeb says "significantly improved the force’s overall mobility". One air force officer, Andrew Namathanga, rose to command the whole Malawian Defence Force in March 2020, according to Wikipedia.

10 June 2024: the crash in Chikangawa forest

On 10 June 2024 a Malawi Defence Force Dornier 228 carrying Vice-President Saulos Chilima crashed in the Chikangawa Forest Reserve in the Northern Region, killing all ten people on board, according to Wikipedia, which cites France 24’s report of 11 June 2024; among the dead was a former first lady. No deadlier accident in the air arm’s history appears in the sources checked, and the crash became a political issue. In October 2024 President Lazarus Chakwera set up a Commission of Inquiry. Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) also investigated; the Nation reported that its interim findings showed the aircraft had neither a cockpit voice recorder nor a flight data recorder and that its emergency locator transmitter battery had expired in 2004.

2024–2026: two inquiries and a mostly grounded fleet

The Nation, reporting on 25 February 2026, summarised the two findings. The BFU, in June 2025, attributed the crash to "the crew’s failure to control the flight in adverse weather", citing low flying in marginal conditions, poor situational awareness and inadequate pre-flight preparation; the commission ruled out foul play and cited adverse weather and human error, finding that crews lacked current certifications and had no weather briefing. After a change of government, President Peter Mutharika ordered a fresh inquiry by a parliamentary committee with international experts, on the advice of Justice Minister Charles Mhango, who said earlier inquiries had "failed to provide final closure". Meanwhile defenceWeb’s 2026 profile describes a force "with extremely limited flight capacity" and no combat aircraft: two Dornier 228s, two MA600s and helicopters of which several are listed as grounded or unserviceable.

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