Four crew members and 18 passengers escaped what could have been a disaster after a carrier narrowly escaped crashing into the runway after hitting a dog.
The fuel tank of the Regent Airways flight broke after the plane hit a dog while landing in Cox's Bazar airport on Wednesday at 7:45pm.
The dog died on the spot.
The plane, carrying four crew members and 18 passengers from Dhaka, was spilling fuel on the runway as the pilot narrowly managed to keep the plane on track and avoid tilting over.
The plane could not make its return flight to Dhaka.
An employee from Regent Airways confirmed the news to the Dhaka Tribune on the condition of strict anonymity.
He said animals straying onto the runway was par for the course. “Sometimes even people enter. Planes have been landing under this risk for quite some time.”
The employee added that the manager of the airport Hasan Zahir was not answering telephone calls after this incident.
Hasan Zahir admitted the incident to the Dhaka Tribune. “This is just an accident. Nothing in Bangladesh is 100% secure.”
The plane headed off for Dhaka at 4pm on Thursday.