BIMAN GOES DOWN IN PROTEST




There were much apprehensions of all quarters on whether Biman should continue with its current fleet of F-28s. The pilots specially raised concerns that these are not safe enough to fly and only 139 out of 243 built are operational around the world. A couple of days ago another F-28 took a nose-dive into a ditch after skidding off the runway at Sylhet in a domestic flight. Luckily none of the 82 passengers on-board were seriously hurt. The drama continued when the state minister for civil aviation termed pilot error may be the cause of the accident. The Biman pilots went on a strike yesterday in protest of his remark and to take an assessment of all Biman aircrafts whether they are flight worthy. The minister then refuted the claim and said that he was misquoted and the strike was called off when he assured to take care of their demands. But the Biman schedules went haywire troubling many passengers.

To the best of my knowledge, Biman pilots are very efficient and it is to their credit Biman has a good safety record considering the outdated aircrafts they fly to and from domestic airports which do not have modern instrumental landing facilities. I hope that Biman will listen to this wake up call to replace outdated aircrafts.