Malawi authorities launched a search operation after a military plane carrying the country's vice president and nine others went missing on Monday.

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

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

"All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the Aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far," Malawi's Office of the President and Cabinet said in a statement.

Chilima, 51, was aboard a Malawi Defense Force aircraft that left the capital Lilongwe at 09:17 a.m. (0717 GMT), it said, adding that search and rescue operations were ongoing.

The aircraft had been scheduled to land at Mzuzu International Airport at 10:02 a.m., according to the statement.

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