Sagar Biswas :
The man, who was assigned to conduct final checkup before taking off the VVIP aircraft Boeing-777 Ranga Pravat carrying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Hungarian capital Budapest, had no license.
Not only that, according to the investigation committee reports, constituted following the emergency landing of PM’s plane at Ashgabat international airport in Turkmenistan on November 27, most of the Chief Engineers of the Biman have come from Mechanical Engineering background. None of them have got education in Aeronautical Engineering.
“We’re stunned getting investigation reports with the above findings.
Though unbelievable, some of the Biman’s Chief Engineers were made from loaders,” the Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon said on Tuesday.
He said: “All the three investigation committees constituted by Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh [CAAB] and Bangladesh Bimam have submitted their reports to the ministry. Their reports have categorically identified ”man-made-fault” for the technical problem in the VVIP flight.” Sources close to the ministry said that the Biman authority was taking preparations to file the case with the concerned police station accusing around 50 persons, including nine suspended engineers, in line with the investigation report, till the time of filing this report at 7:30 pm yesterday.
Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Biman’s managing board member Barrister Tanjib-ul- Alam, Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry Secretary SA Golam Faruk, Managing Director of Biman Mosaddeq Ahmed along with officials of legal section finalsied the draft of the case, the sources said.
The decision of filing criminal case was confirmed after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave clearance after attending the cabinet meeting on Monday. The PM at that time sat with Menon and Secretary SM Golam Faruk where PMO Chief Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser and PMO Secretary Suraiya Begum were also present, the sources added.
When asked about filing of the case, Menon said: “The case will be filed against the suspected persons [identified in the probe reports] by the Biman authority at any time. Besides, several others, who were not suspended, will be implicated in the case. Barrister Tanjib-ul- Alam will lead the case.”
Meanwhile, the government high-ups have expressed severe discontent when a junior technical officer of Biman was suspended for an alleged sabotage act in another VVIP flight Boeing 737 carrying President Abdul Hamid from Singapore to Dhaka on December 11. President went to Singapore for medical check-up on December 6. According to the media report, the junior technical officer was caught by the President’s security staff when he was trying to clean an engine-bed with chemical-mixed water, which might cause fire in the aircraft. The Biman officials at first tried to suppress the matter, but now they are compelled to initiate an investigation into the incident. The accused official has been suspended in connection with the sabotage act, sources said.
As per aviation experts, the engine or engine-bed must be washed with clean water, where inflammable liquid is forbidden. When asked about the “suspicious activities” in the President carrying aircraft, the Minister said: “We’re yet to get any report about it. At present, we don’t know anything.”
The man, who was assigned to conduct final checkup before taking off the VVIP aircraft Boeing-777 Ranga Pravat carrying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Hungarian capital Budapest, had no license.
Not only that, according to the investigation committee reports, constituted following the emergency landing of PM’s plane at Ashgabat international airport in Turkmenistan on November 27, most of the Chief Engineers of the Biman have come from Mechanical Engineering background. None of them have got education in Aeronautical Engineering.
“We’re stunned getting investigation reports with the above findings.
Though unbelievable, some of the Biman’s Chief Engineers were made from loaders,” the Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon said on Tuesday.
He said: “All the three investigation committees constituted by Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh [CAAB] and Bangladesh Bimam have submitted their reports to the ministry. Their reports have categorically identified ”man-made-fault” for the technical problem in the VVIP flight.” Sources close to the ministry said that the Biman authority was taking preparations to file the case with the concerned police station accusing around 50 persons, including nine suspended engineers, in line with the investigation report, till the time of filing this report at 7:30 pm yesterday.
Earlier in the day, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Biman’s managing board member Barrister Tanjib-ul- Alam, Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry Secretary SA Golam Faruk, Managing Director of Biman Mosaddeq Ahmed along with officials of legal section finalsied the draft of the case, the sources said.
The decision of filing criminal case was confirmed after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave clearance after attending the cabinet meeting on Monday. The PM at that time sat with Menon and Secretary SM Golam Faruk where PMO Chief Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser and PMO Secretary Suraiya Begum were also present, the sources added.
When asked about filing of the case, Menon said: “The case will be filed against the suspected persons [identified in the probe reports] by the Biman authority at any time. Besides, several others, who were not suspended, will be implicated in the case. Barrister Tanjib-ul- Alam will lead the case.”
Meanwhile, the government high-ups have expressed severe discontent when a junior technical officer of Biman was suspended for an alleged sabotage act in another VVIP flight Boeing 737 carrying President Abdul Hamid from Singapore to Dhaka on December 11. President went to Singapore for medical check-up on December 6. According to the media report, the junior technical officer was caught by the President’s security staff when he was trying to clean an engine-bed with chemical-mixed water, which might cause fire in the aircraft. The Biman officials at first tried to suppress the matter, but now they are compelled to initiate an investigation into the incident. The accused official has been suspended in connection with the sabotage act, sources said.
As per aviation experts, the engine or engine-bed must be washed with clean water, where inflammable liquid is forbidden. When asked about the “suspicious activities” in the President carrying aircraft, the Minister said: “We’re yet to get any report about it. At present, we don’t know anything.”
