"I know that this is a heartbreaking situation... but I want to assure you that I am sparing no available resource to find that plane and I am holding on to every fibre of hope that we will find survivors," president Lazarus Chakwera said.
The plane, which took off just after 9:00 am (0700 GMT), was carrying 51-year-old Chilima and nine others when it failed to land due to bad weather, according to the leader who was speaking in a televised address to the nation.
Malawi's former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri (Muluzi) was also on board.
The group was travelling from the capital Lilongwe over 370 kilometres (230miles) to the city of Mzuzu for the funeral of a former cabinet minister, reports BSS.
"Upon arrival in Mzuzu the pilot was unable to land the plane due to poorvisibility occasioned by bad weather, and aviation authorities advised theiraircraft to return to Lilongwe, but the authorities soon lost contact withthe aircraft," Chakwera said.
The head of state dismissed claims published by local media that searchoperations had been discontinued for the night.
Soldiers are "still on the ground carrying out the search and I have givenstrict orders that the operation should continue until the plane is found",he said, adding that the army would give the public regular updates.
Chakwera ordered regional and national forces to conduct an "immediate searchand rescue operation" earlier in the day.
- International support -
He said he had already contacted the governments of various countriesincluding the US, Britain, Norway and Israel, who had all offered support "indifferent capacities".
"Including the use of specialised technologies that will enhance capacity tofind the plane sooner."
Chakwera said that a telecommunication signal located the plane within a 10kilometre radius of Riaply, a timber milling company in the poor southernAfrican nation located south of Mzuzu.
Soldiers are said to be looking for the missing aircraft with torches and onfoot, according to local media reports.
Various unconfirmed reports have circulated that eye witnesses saw a planecrashing into the forest earlier on Monday.
Chakwera has cancelled a visit to the Bahamas.
First elected vice-president in 2014, the charismatic yet stern-talkingChilima is widely loved in Malawi, particularly among the youth.
But in 2022 during his second stint in the job, Chilima was stripped of hispowers after being arrested and charged with graft over a bribery scandalinvolving a British-Malawian businessman.
Last month, a Malawian court dropped the charges.