Plane crash in Rajshahi kills female pilot

A female trainee pilot died as a training aircraft of a flying institute crashed at Shah Makhdum Airport in Rajshahi this afternoon.

Tamanna Rahman, 22, died when her plane suddenly caught fire and crashed on the runway while taking off around 2:00pm.

“Sensing the technical fault, the pilot tried to land and it’s then that the plane caught fire,” said Setafur Rahman, manager of Shah Makhdum Airport.

Her trainer Lt Col (retd) Sayeed Kamal was admitted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rajshahi with 80 percent burns. He was later shifted to Dhaka.

Tamanna, who hailed from Tangail, was learning flying on a Bangladesh Flying Academy aircraft, Cessna D152.

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) formed a four-member committee to investigate the incident, an official of CAAB told The Daily Star.

The committee members have already set for Rajshahi, he added.

The body of Tamanna was taken to Rajshahi Medical College of autopsy.

Tamanna met with the tragic end just a day after she achieved the skills for single-pilot operations. “From today, she started training of 150 flying hours to get licence for commercial flight,” said Enamul Kabir, a senior engineer at the civil aviation.

He said the accident took place just after the plane crossed 5,000-feet of the 6,000-feet runway.

“The plane crashed as Tamanna abruptly turned the aircraft after crossing 5000-feet. Then it skidded off the runway and caught fire,” he added.

Earlier on September 27, 1998, a training plane of Parabat Airlines crashed at Postogola in Dhaka due to technical fault, leaving its pilot Faria Lara and co-pilot Rafiqul dead.