Biman plane with 33 on board skids off runway in Yangon; 19 hospitalised

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane with 33 people on board from Dhaka has skidded off the runway at Yangon International Airport in Myanmar and 19 of them have been hospitalised.

The accident occurred when the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft from Dhaka attempted to land amidst bad weather on Wednesday evening, officials said.

The 19 injured were admitted to North Okkalapa General Hospital, Bangladesh Ambassador to Myanmar Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury told bdnews24.com from the hospital by telephone.

Photo: Social media

The injuries were not life-threatening, the ambassador said and added the others on board the flight were also injured but released after first aid at the airport.

The injured included pilot Shamim Nazrul and First Officer ‘Kabirul’, officials said.

“All passengers are safe. Biman is sending a special flight to Yangon at 10:00pm to bring back the passengers and the crew to Dhaka,” Biman spokesman Shakil Meraj said.

Later in the night, he said the special flight, BG061, would arrive in Dhaka around 6am on Thursday with 18 passengers, who had bought Yangon-Dhaka ticket of BG060.

Photo: Social media

The Myanmar Department of Civil Aviation said in an announcement on its Facebook page that the airport reopened at 9:01pm local time but a part of the runway next to the accident site was still nonoperational.

It advised travellers to contact their airlines for flight updates.

 

The aircraft fuselage broke in just behind the forward passenger door and just behind the rear service door, according to Aviation Safety Network, which covers air accident and safety issues.

The undercarriage collapsed and the right hand wing also seems to have broken at the attachment point with the fuselage, it said in an entry on the accident on its website.

"Weather at Yangon was poor due to the presence of a thunderstorm in the area."

There was no fire and all on board have survived, it added.

Photo: Social media

The 33 people on board flight BG060 included 29 passengers, including a child, two pilots, and two cabin crew, according to Shakil, a general manager at Biman.

The plane left Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 3:45pm and was landing at 6:22pm Bangladesh time, he said.

Mir Aktaruzzaman, a Biman official in Myanmar, said weather was very rough amidst thunderstorm during the landing of the aircraft.

All people on board the plane were more or less injured, he added.

Photo: Social media

Photos published by different Myanmar media and posted on social media showed rescue personnel working while the wrecked plane was on a grassy field next to a runway.

The photos also showed uniformed men with bloody injuries getting off an ambulance with others’ help.