An aircraft carrying Malawi's Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima and nine others has gone missing, Malawi's presidency said on Monday.

"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.