Training aircraft mishap during take-off in Rajshahi kills trainee pilot

A training aircraft has crashed on the runway at Rajshahi’s Shah Makhdum Airport, leaving the trainee pilot dead and the trainer injured.

The Cessna D-152 plane of Bangladesh Flying Academy (BFA) caught fire while taking off around 2pm on Wednesday, said Matihar Police Station OC Saidur Rahman.

The incident left trainee pilot Tamanna Rahman dead and trainer retired Lt Col Sayeed Kamal injured, he said.

Kamal received medical attention at the Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital, and Rajshahi Combined Military Hospital. He was sent to Dhaka’s CMH for better treatment.

Tamanna was the youngest of the two children of Dr Anisur Rahman, deputy director at the Directorate General of Health Services. The family lives in Nikunja-2 at Dhaka’s Khilkhet.

The airport’s Manager Setafur Rahman said her body was autopsied and sent to Dhaka.

The remains were handed to the family Wednesday night at the Bangladesh Flying Academy and General Aviation Ltd head office.

Anisur Rahman said her daughter will be buried at the graveyard near their home at Nikunja-2 on Thursday.

Tamanna started following BFA’s Personal Pilot Licence course two years ago. She was authorised to fly on her own after logging 16 hours of flying under the trainer’s supervision.

A trainee has to complete 50 hours of flying to finish the course. She and Kamal had boarded the Cessna D-152 on Wednesday to log more hours.

Bangladesh Flying Academy and General Aviation Ltd’s Executive Committee member retired captain Sahabuddin Ahmed told bdnews24.com the plane had caught fire after climbing nearly 600 feet and then crashed in the middle of the runway.

“Both pilots had tried to use the emergency escape after failing to make an emergency landing. But the plane exploded and the trainee pilot burnt alive.”

Police’s Sub-Inspector Enamul Haque, who was deputed to the airport area, said the plane had burst into bits.

He said locals took Sayeed Kamal to the hospital finding him near the runway after the blast threw him off the plane.

Fire fighters had rushed to the scene and put out the fire, Haque added.

The fire and the subsequent explosion had completely destroyed the Cessna.

The Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) has formed a five-member team, headed by its Director (Flight Safety and Regulations) SM Nazmul Anam, to look into the incident.

On Sept 27, 1998, a training plane of Air Parabat had crashed at Dhaka’s Postogola following electrical malfunction, killing its two pilots Faria Lara and ‘Rafiqul’.