A Biman Bangladesh Airlines Dreamliner was damaged when a bird hit the engine of the plane during landing at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Monday.
The pilot of the Boeing 787 aircraft, however, managed to land the plane safely at around 11am, with some 89 passengers on board.
Tahera Khondoker, general manager of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune on Monday.
The flight departed from London for Sylhet at around 9:40am and then Dhaka airport, said Biman Spokesperson.
She said: “The Biman Dreamliner is now under the supervision of an engineering team of the airport.”
Airlines blame CAAB's failure
Several domestic and foreign airlines have put blame on the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) for frequent incidents of bird strikes.
Another Dreamliner was damaged when a bird hit the engine of the plane during landing at Sylhet MAG Osmani International Airport on August 14, this year.
After the incident, CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman told Dhaka Tribune: "We are bringing some devices to monitor such situations. We will first use the devices at the Dhaka airport and then gradually extend them to other airports."
However, the CAAB chairman's remarks remain on paper, as no progress has been made toward purchasing equipment to avoid such incidents.
Currently, CAAB uses inadequate equipment (four guns) to prevent bird strikes but the guns barely work.
Airline insiders said to deal with such incidents, airport authorities around the world use modern and conventional technology to keep the birds away from key aircraft installations.
However, the CAAB chairman said the situation cannot be avoided unless the tower gives a signal beforehand or the pilot sees the bird from their position.
Aviation experts termed the situation unacceptable and blamed CAAB for its negligence.
They said CAAB earns more than thousands of crores of taka every year, but it is unfortunate that they cannot afford to buy modern machinery to ensure the safety of aircraft from bird strikes.
According to Biman sources, around 22 aircraft suffered bird strikes at the Dhaka airport in 2019 while 15 incidents occurred in the last two years.