Pilot hailed for saving 171 lives as US-Bangla plane makes emergency landing

The pilot of the US-Bangla Airlines plane that made a forced landing in Chattogram after its nose gear failed while flying to Cox’s Bazar has earned plaudits for saving the lives of 171 on board.

The Boeing 737 aircraft was carrying 164 passengers and seven crewmembers from Dhaka on Wednesday.

Its pilot Captain Mohammad Zakaria, a retired Bangladesh Air Force squadron leader, managed to land the plane on its rear wheels and without any major occurrence.

As many as 40 passengers were slightly injured and 70 suffered trauma, but all of them recovered later, Chattogram Civil Surgeon Azizur Rahman Siddiqui said. 

Captain Zakaria circled the plane in mid-air for some time in Cox’s Bazar and decided not to land as the nose wheel of the plane was stuck and the airport was not prepared for emergency landing.

The airplane later flew to the Chattogram airport where the authorities arranged for an emergency landing.

When an aircraft is unable to touch down with its landing gear fully extended, it usually performs a gear-up or “belly” landing.

Sarwar-e-Jahan, Manager of the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram, said the nose wheel of the plane opens before landing using a hydraulic system. It can also be opened manually.

“The pilot went for the emergency landing as no effort to open the nose gear worked… It is highly risky to land without any nose wheel. It could be a major accident,” he said.        

“It was a technical fault. The pilot was very skilled. There was no major occurrence as he managed to land the plane after slowing it down,” Sarwar added.

Netizens have posted angry comments on the social media doubting US-Bangla’s capacity to operate flights.

The plane received compliance clearance before the flight following the rules, the airlines’ spokesman Kamrul Islam said.

“Such technical problem like failure of the nose gear can occur at any time,” he said.

He also credited Captain Zakaria for the safe emergency landing.

“No major problem occurred thanks to the pilot’s skills, courage and wit. He considered every aspect before the landing,” Kamrul said.

নোজ গিয়ার ছাড়াই যেভাবে চট্টগ্রামে নামল ইউএস-বাংলা

Videos of the incident posted on the social media showed the plane touching down the runway on its rear wheels, taxi-ing for some time and then skidding on the nose before coming to a stop.

Smoke was bellowing from the plane’s front side after its nose struck the tarmac.

Rescuers on fire trucks and ambulances approached as the plane finally stopped.

Passengers were seen getting through the doors. One woman was crying while another sat on the tarmac.

One of the passengers, Talukder Md Towhid, expressed ire at the incident.

“US-Bangla should have learnt a lesson from the Nepal incident. The government should act against the airlines,” he said.

As many as 51 people lost their lives in the crash of a US-Bangla plane at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport from Dhaka on Mar 12.