DC-10 Crash-landing
No int'l flights for another week
Staff Correspondent
Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong might remain close to the international flights at least for another week, as it would not be possible by that time to salvage the crash-landed DC-10 aircraft of Bangladesh Biman.The airport has been shut for the international flights for the last three days since the accident on Friday. Domestic flight operations at the airport however resumed on Saturday morning. The flight BG-048 of the national flag carrier flying from Dubai with 215 passengers on board skidded off the runway after it was forced to make a belly-landing due to technical faults. "It would take at least a week to salvage the aircraft lying on a muddy patch off the runway. An insurance company representative has already visited the scene and the aircraft would be removed after he submits a report," a Biman official requesting anonymity said. A Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) source however said the rescue operation of the DC-10 is being hindered by inclement weather. The jet fuel loaded in the aircraft has been taken away Sunday. Bangladesh Biman sources said that Peter Tyrer, a representative of Lloyd David Insurance Company, a British company with which the aircraft was insured, reached Dhaka from Singapore on Saturday night. Tyrer visited the spot yesterday morning. Sources said that the DC-10 aircraft would be declared write-off officially if the representative of the insurance company gives a 'green signal'. In that case, it will be much easier to carry out the salvage operation, cutting the aircraft into pieces. "Peter would sit with the Biman officials today and submit his report after returning to Singapore," said a Biman official. Meanwhile, the president of Bangladesh Airlines Pilot Association (Bapa) Flight Captain Nasim dismissed the rumour that the pilot and co-pilot of the flight were on drugs. People with no technical expertise in this field should not make any comments regarding the incident, he said in a statement yesterday. The investigation committee should not be biased with such information and the pilots should be given a fair chance to defend themselves, he added. M Habibullah Khan, the chief of the probe body, said they are continuing the investigations, but he declined to elaborate on their findings.
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