The BBC reported, citing a statement from the president's office.

"A Malawi Defense Force plane "flew off the radar" after it left the capital Lilongwe on Monday morning", the statement said.

After aviation officials were unable to contact the plane, the country's president, Lazarus Chakwera, ordered a search and rescue operation.

The plane was scheduled to land at Mzuzu International Airport in the north of the country just after 10:00 a.m. local time.

• May 15 Volodymyr Zelenskyy he held  telephone conversations with the presidents of Georgia and Malawi — Salome Zourabishvili and Lazarus Chakwera, as well as the prime ministers of Liechtenstein, Daniel Risch and Portugal Luis Montenegro.