4 more days needed to repair grounded Biman aircraft
The national flag carrier has been struggling to maintain flight schedules as four of their aircraft have been grounded since mid-February
At least four more days will be needed to repair one of the two Biman Bangladesh Airlines' Boeing jets that were grounded after they collided in a hangar at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, said civil aviation and tourism ministry sources yesterday.
The engineers of Biman Bangladesh Airlines are repairing the two aircraft in the hangar at the airport and the civil aviation and tourism ministry formed a probe committee on Tuesday to identify the persons responsible for the incident.
The four-member committee led by Md Muhidul Islam, additional secretary at the civil aviation and tourism ministry, started its work on Wednesday and it has to submit a report within seven working days.
"We inspected both aircraft on Wednesday. I think they will be able to fly very soon," Md Muhidul Islam, convener of the probe committee, told The Business Standard.
He also said the committee will submit the report within the deadline.
A Boeing 777 entering a hangar at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for maintenance on Sunday, rear-ended a Boeing 737.
The weather radar in the front of the Boeing 777 was damaged and the vertical stabiliser in the rear of the Boeing 737 was broken.
The weather radar of the Boeing 777 has already been restored and it is scheduled to take to the air by Thursday, said sources at the civil aviation and tourism ministry.
State Minister for Civil Aviation, Mahbub Ali, expressed anger over the incident after inspecting the planes on Monday.
He said action would be taken after investigating whether the incident was an accident or an act of sabotage.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines formed a committee to investigate the matter following a directive of the minister.
Biman struggling to maintain flight schedule
The Biman Bangladesh Airlines' engineering department and maintenance unit said that with the two planes grounded on Sunday, four of their aircraft have been grounded so far this year.
Consequently, the airline has been struggling to maintain their schedule with fewer aircraft. Their flights have been running late around one and a half hours to two and half hours over the last couple of days.
Flight delay is a regular phenomenon for Biman. Expressing anger about the routine delay in flights at a recent public hearing organised by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), many Biman passengers termed travelling by the national airline "a curse".
At present, there are 21 aircraft in Biman's fleet. It has four Boeing 787 Dreamliners, three Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, four Boeing 777-300ERs, six Boeing 737-800s and five Dash-8s.
Sunday's collision was the third such incident to have occurred since mid-February this year, raising questions about the national flag carrier's maintenance.
On 15 February this year, a Boeing 737 aircraft of Biman was brought back from Malaysia after a windshield crack was noticed mid-flight en route to Kuala Lumpur.
On 6 March, another Boeing was damaged when a bird hit its engine during landing at Sylhet MAG Osmani International Airport.
