Special flight returns with 10 survivors from Yangon

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines’ special flight returned from Yangon, Myanmar on Friday night with 10 people who were wounded on May 7 as a Yangon-bound Biman flight went off the runway during landing in the airport.

The special flight landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:40pm that took off from Dhaka for Yangon at 4pm on Friday.

Civil Aviation and Tourism State Minister Mahbub Ali, Secretary Md Mohibul Haque, Additional Secretary Md Mokabbir Hossain, and Biman’s Acting Managing Director and CEO Captain Farhat Hassan Jamil received the returnees.

The returnees are two pilots, two cabin crew members, two ground engineers, and four passengers.

"The incident probably occurred due to bad weather, but we will not be able to confirm before the probe committee ends its investigation," said State Minister Mahbub.

Biman authorities will organize for proper treatment of all victims, the State Minister said adding that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is also closely following the matter.     

On Tuesday, 19 people were injured when a Biman flight, a Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, skidded off the runway at the Yangon international airport.

Fortunately, the plane did not catch fire, it broke into three parts—with one of the wings damaged heavily, according official sources.

There are currently three Dash 8 aircraft in the Biman fleet, which were leased out from Canada's Bombardier Inc.

Smart Aviation, the leasing company, brought the aircraft under an agreement with the Bangladesh government signed in February 2015. Biman added the aircraft to its fleet on April later that year.

Kamruzzaman