The US-Bangla Airlines Bombardier Dash 8 Q-400 with 71 people onboard slammed on an empty field and burst into flames at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Monday. The crash was unacceptable on many counts. Firstly it is learned, being so close to the runway, there was misunderstanding between the control tower and the pilot. Secondly, air-traffic control of the airport claimed that the pilot approached the runway from the wrong end despite repeated warnings. Thirdly, TIA in an official press release claimed that the pilot did not follow the controller’s instructions. It said landing from south to north was common, but the pilot picked the other end. Furthermore, it claimed that the pilot was alerted by the controller that the plane’s alignment was not correct, but there was no response.
Amid a spree of speculations and suspicions, now it’s time to quickly investigate the actual reason behind the crash. Nevertheless, the latest accident should serve as an important lesson. Loss of lives of innocent passengers can never be compensated.
In the recent days, we have seen several incidents of negligence and unskilled performance in flight operations. For that reason, we have also witnessed the planes of Bangladesh Biman and other airlines have fallen in accidents for several times in the previous year. Fortunately they escaped fatal accidents. Even, the VVIP flight of Bangladesh Biman carrying PM had faced severe difficulties for a couple of times. Sometimes it was technical glitch, sometimes it was human error.
It is the responsibility of the aviation experts to ensure that no airlines of our country operates without strictly complying with every detail of the safety procedures. The pilots cannot escape blame because their decision is final. No authority can force to change his decision. It is generally believed we are under a system in which nobody feels accountability. Ours has free country for those who can neglect their public responsibility.
