Probe body to unearth reason behind Biman hijack attempt

Staff Correspondent: The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry has formed a five-member probe committee to unearth the reason behind a hijack incident of a Biman Bangladesh flight before landing at Hazrat Amanat Shah International Airport in Chittogram on Sunday evening.

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali said this while giving statement on Monday in the Jatiya Sangsad under section 300 of the rules of procedure with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.

A Dhaka to Dubai via Chattogram bound aircraft BG-147 under the national flag carrier left the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the city at around 5.13 pm with 155 passengers including seven crews on board, said the state minister.

As per the schedule, he said the aircraft was on the way to landing at the Hazrat Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram at around 5.40 pm, but all of a sudden a ‘terrorist’ who tried to hijack the plane and shouted at and intimidate the passengers.

The captain of the aircraft kept the terrorist busy while talking with him, said the state minister, adding that at one stage all the passengers and crews were safely evacuated from the flight.

During this time, a commando team of the Bangladesh Army and a smart contingent of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) entered into the aircraft and made the hijacker inactive.

Additional Secretary of the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry Md Mokabbir Hossain is heading the five-member committee.


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 25, 2019/Asad/AI