The technical glitch that resulted in the emergency landing of a Boeing 777 aircraft carrying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Turkmenistan was ‘man made’, according to findings of three probe committees submitted yesterday. The committees formed after the November 27 incident also found that the standard operating procedure (SOP) had not been maintained properly before the special flight left Dhaka for Budapest.
Sources in the civil aviation ministry said they are planning to file a case against the errant employees to ascertain whether the error was intentional or not.
“If (the ‘man-made’ issue) intentional, it’s a sabotage plot,” said the source requesting anonymity while talking to The Independent at a press conference organised by the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry to disclose the findings of the three committees.
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon told reporters, at the briefing held at the secretariat, that in consultation with the prime minister, a sedition or sabotage case will be filed soon against the persons responsible for the incident.
“The probe bodies recommended that the government finds out the reasons behind the PM’s flight glitch by bringing those responsible under legal actions. They (committees) have only investigated technical issues, and other issues must be probed through the authorities concerned. So, they have suggested taking legal actions against the culprits,” Menon said, referring to the recommendations of the three committees.
The committees were formed by Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) and the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry after the November 27 incident. A special VVIP flight (BG 1011) ‘Ranga Pravat’ carrying the prime minister and another 99 passengers, including her entourage members, four cockpit crew, 20 cabin crew and four aircraft engineers, left Dhaka for the Hungarian capital at 9.14am on November 27.
But due to a technical fault it landed at Ashgabat, the Turkmenistan capital, at 2.15pm Bangladesh time by changing its route. At Ashgabat, the on-duty engineers repaired the glitch and the flight started for Budapest at 6.37pm after over four hours of unscheduled stopover at Ashgabat.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reached Budapest on November 28 afternoon on a four-day bilateral visit in conjunction with Budapest Water Summit 2016 at the invitation of Hungarian President Dr Janos Ader. The ministry probe body, headed by additional secretary Swapan Kumar Sarker, yesterday submitted its final findings contained in a report of 40 pages and attachments of 160 pages.
The CAAB committee, headed by Senior Consultant Captain Fariduzzaman, and the Biman panel, headed by Chief of Technical Captain Fazal Mahmud Chowdhury, also submitted their reports to their respective authorities on the day. Earlier, the probe bodies submitted their initial reports and based on those reports, Biman suspended nine of its engineers and technicians, Menon told the briefing.
The committees in their final reports also mentioned names of several persons deemed guilty, the minister said, without disclosing the identities of those ‘guilty persons’. Menon also said the recommendations will also be compiled and sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the home ministry.
“The issue of filing case will be decided after holding meetings with the PMO and the home ministry. If necessary, more high-power committee will be formed,” he added.
The minister also said that they were taking the issue seriously as the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, herself was concerned. “It’s a question of security of the head of the government.” The committees also recommended that the government enhance the monitoring of the civil aviation ministry on Biman Bangladesh Airlines to ensure safety and security of the passengers as well as VVIPs. Asked whether he would resign as the minister shouldering his responsibility over the incident, Menon said, “I always admit my ethical responsibility for the incident. But, I was not involved with the incident. It’s the people of the country who should consider whether I should resign or not.”