Passengers reach Dhaka after 40-hour ordeal

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying at least 174 Bangladeshi passport holders reached Dhaka yesterday after being stranded at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport for nearly 40 hours due to a technical fault.

The BG306 developed a problem with its cabin pressure control system after landing at Fiumicino on Friday morning for a scheduled refuelling stop and crew change.

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The Toronto-Dhaka flight, carrying 259 passengers, had departed Toronto Pearson International Airport at 5:18pm local time on Thursday.

Six, eight or even 10 hours may sometimes be understandable, but leaving passengers stranded for around 40 hours is not acceptable.

ATM Nazrul Islam Aviation expert

A copy of the aircraft maintenance log obtained by The Daily Star shows that the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reported a channel failure in its “aft outflow valve”, a key component for regulating cabin pressure and airflow.

Ground engineers in Rome replaced the aircraft’s Aft Vacuum Control Unit (VCU) following Boeing’s maintenance procedures, according to the log.

An official of Biman’s engineering section said the engineers in Rome were unable to resolve the problem and asked Biman to send its own team.

Two engineers were sent from Dhaka and fixed the fault within around two hours of reaching the aircraft, he said.

Wing Commander (Retd) ATM Nazrul Islam, an aviation expert, said Biman should have had contingency arrangements for technical support and passenger accommodation before using Rome as a technical stop.

“An aircraft can develop a technical fault, and the decision to land was right. But if Rome was being used as a technical landing point, Biman should have ensured beforehand that adequate engineering support was available there or that it had an agreement with a maintenance provider to handle an aircraft on the ground situation,” he told The Daily Star.

He said passenger handling during the prolonged disruption was a bigger concern.

“There should have been prior arrangements with the immigration authorities so that passengers could be temporarily accommodated outside the airport if an aircraft remained grounded for a long period,” he said.

Biman could also have sent another aircraft or arranged seats on other airlines, Nazrul said.

“Six, eight or even 10 hours may sometimes be understandable, but leaving passengers stranded for around 40 hours is not acceptable. Several alternatives could have been explored,” he said.

Passengers said they faced inadequate rest, lack of sleep and difficulties accessing medicines and other essentials during the disruption.

They alleged that they were kept inside the aircraft for around eight hours on the first day while the air-conditioning was not functioning, leaving several passengers unwell.

They were eventually taken to the terminal, but at least 174 passengers could not get hotel accommodation and had to remain in lounges and other areas of the airport.

After the aircraft was declared fit to fly, the flight departed Rome at 11:00pm local time on Saturday and reached Dhaka at 12:34pm yesterday, said Boshra Islam, Biman’s general manager for public relations.