Glitch in PM's Plane: Three more Biman engrs suspended

Three more engineers of Biman Bangladesh Airlines were suspended yesterday for their negligence in duty that led to the emergency landing of the November 27 flight carrying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Budapest.

The decision to suspend Debesh Chowdhury, chief engineer (production); SA Siddique, chief engineer (quality assurance) and Billal Hossain, principal engineer, was made on the basis of a detailed probe report of the committee formed by the national carrier, said Shakil Meraj, general manager of Biman' public relations department.

Stern actions against them will follow, said sources in the civil aviation ministry.

The four-member probe committee submitted its final report on Monday. The team led by Chief of Technical Capt Fazal Mahmud Chowdhury submitted the report to the managing director and CEO of Biman.

Earlier, Biman suspended six officials from its engineering department on November 30 as it found out their negligence had caused the Biman flight carrying PM to land in Turkmenistan.

The suspended engineers were SM Rokonuzaman, Samiul Haque, Lutfor Rahman, Milon Chandra Biswas and Zakir Hossain and technician Siddiqur Rahman.

On November 27, the prime minister left for Budapest at the invitation of Hungarian President Janos Ader to the Budapest Water Summit 2016. She was leading a 90-member delegation including three cabinet ministers. 

The VVIP flight to Budapest with Hasina made the emergency landing at Ashgabat International Airport in Turkmenistan after a loose nut caused an oil leak and subsequent oil pressure loss in engine-1 of the Boeing 777-300ER, according to the Biman probe.

Cockpit crew members detected the technical glitch when the aircraft was flying over Lahore in Pakistan, and as per the standard operation procedure, the pilots made the emergency landing. The probe report cites “human failure factor” as the reason for it.

Having the problem fixed, the aircraft named “Ranga Pravhat” left the Ashgabat airport for Budapest.

Three enquiry committees were formed following the incident -- one by the civil aviation ministry, one by Biman and another by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.

The two other probe committees are yet to finalise their reports, sources said.