At least three officials of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) were injured when an air force helicopter crash-landed and caught fire at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong yesterday morning.
The helicopter, which was being used for training, crash-landed near a runway at around 11am and caught fire immediately, said Mohammad Quamruzzaman, assistant commissioner (immigration) at Chittagong Metropolitan Police who was stationed at the airport.
“On information, all flight operations were halted, and the air force’s fire brigade rushed to the spot and doused the fire,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Chittagong airport Manager Wing Commander Nur-E-Alam said flight operations were halted for an hour following the accident, resuming around 12:15pm.
The injured officials were identified as Squadron Leader Shafayet, Pilot Officer Fuad and Flight Engineer Sergeant Ferdous, said a press release issued by the Inter Service Public Relation Directorate.
Quamruzzaman said the victims were rushed to a hospital at the nearby Bangladesh Navy base.
Among the injured, Shafayet and Ferdous, who were the helicopter trainers, were critically injured; Shafayet sustained 70% burn injuries, said a BAF senior official seeking anonymity.
They were later transferred to the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka for better treatment, sources at the BAF Zahurul Haq base told the Dhaka Tribune.
But Fuad received only minor injuries as he managed to get out of the aircraft before it caught fire, according to witnesses. The other two had to be rescued by firefighters.
Fuad is currently under treatment at the navy hospital and is out of risk.
Sources at the BAF base said the pilot noticed some technical faults in the helicopter, a Russian-made MI-17 Hip multi-purpose helicopter, right after taking off at around 10:35am and informed the control room immediately.
After flying for 40 minutes, the pilot lost control of the aircraft and contacted the control room right away. The airport authorities suspended all flight operations immediately, and the helicopter crash-landed beside a runway.
An internal probe body has been formed to investigate the incident, BAF sources said.
Earlier on April 7, another BAF training aircraft crash-landed on the runway at Dhaka airport, but no one was injured in that incident.
Before, on April 1, a training aircraft of Bangladesh Flying Academy and General Aviation Limited crashed during take-off at Rajshahi domestic airport killing trainee pilot Tamanna Rahman and injuring trainer Shahed Kamal, who succumbed to his injuries in a Singapore hospital yesterday.