A wheel problem has forced a Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft to make an emergency landing at the Sylhet’s Osmani International Airport on Wednesday.
“Right before landing, the pilot announced that there was a problem with one of the landing wheels,” a passenger, Subrata Purkayastha told the Dhaka Tribune.
Panic gripped the passengers immediately, he said.
All 65 passengers and the crew were safe, airport officials said.
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Flight BG-601, a Dash 8 plane, took off from Dhaka airport around 3:26pm on Wednesday. The pilot managed to land safely at around 4:10pm in the second attempt.
“We saw fire fighters, members of security forces and other agencies at the site when we got off,” UNB quoted another passenger as saying.
Osmani airport Manager Mohammed Hafiz Uddin Ahmed claimed that it was not an emergency landing. “One of the back wheels had some air pressure issues. That’s it, the aircraft did not make emergency landing,” he said.
Dhaka airport’s Deputy Director of Air Traffic Control Shah Wahidur Rahman told UNB that they had detected a portion of a layer of the landing wheels on the runway after flight BG-601 took off.
"We immediately contacted the Sylhet airport and the pilot was informed about the matter. The flight landed safely," he said.
Replying to a question, he said there are multiple layers in the landing wheel and sometimes, a portion of the layer may fall off. “It is a normal thing,” he said.
The aircraft will return after a replacement of the wheel is done, Wahidur said, adding that another plane from Dhaka will take a replacement wheel to Sylhet.