Staff Reporter :Three air force personnel received serious injuries when a training chopper of Bangladesh Air Force crashed at an air force base adjacent to the Shah Amanat International Airport [SAIA] in Chittagong on Wednesday.Of the three injured, one was pilot and two others were co-pilots. They were identified as Squadron Leader Shafayet Sarwar, Pilot Officer ‘Fuad-bin -Hasan and Sergeant Md Ferdous Kamal. Squadron Leader Shafayet Sarwar was the pilot of the helicopter, said a press release issued by the inter-service public relation [ISPR].Shafayet and Ferdous were sent to the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka and Fuad to the Navy Hospital in Chittagong. ISPR sources also said that a probe body has been formed by the air force to investigate the inccident.Airport Manager of SAIA Wing Commander Nur-e-Alam said the air force chopper MI17-410 crashed on the runway during a test flight at the BAF Base Zahurul Haque about 11:06am.”The helicopter took off from the air force base around 10:30am. A sos call was sent from the helicopter to our control room around 10:35 citing mechanical failure. It was flying over the airport and then crashed near our runway,” he said.According to the SAIA officials, the chopper caught fire after the accident. Pilot Fuad managed to come out of the blazing chopper. Two others, Shafayet and Ferdous, were pulled out from the fire by the security and rescue team of the airport. Movement of aircrafts was kept suspended for about an hour after the accident. The airport operation, however, resumed at about 11:00am. Air forces officials said that the MI17-140 helicopter was often used for transportation, training and official works of the air force members.Additional Deputy Commissioner of Airport Immigration Police Md Tareq said, as the helicopter crashed next to the runway, all the flights were suspended for some time.
