The recent suspension of a Biman Bangladesh Airlines pilot's licence and her foreign travel has generated significant buzz, especially following a February report by Dhaka Tribune highlighting serious irregularities in the carrier's recruitment process.
The pilot in question is Sadia Ahmed Natasha, who is accused of falsifying academic certificates and not meeting the basic requirements for her position as a first officer at the national carrier.
Sadia's career
Sadia's relatives informed this reporter that she began her career as a cabin crew member with GMG Airlines before being appointed as a first officer with both US Bangla and Regent Airlines. However, she was later terminated due to her lack of skill in operating aircraft.
In 2016, while serving as a first officer for Regent Airlines, Sadia failed to take off on time despite being on board, resulting in a lengthy closure of runway operations. According to the Biman Flight Operations Directorate, timely takeoffs are mandatory for all positions.
Sadia allegedly failed her initial simulation test in Istanbul, but her husband, Sajid, managed to qualify her by switching to a simulator centre in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Biman hired her in 2019 and renewed her contract in 2021, but she was later found to have submitted a fake education certificate during recruitment.
Family and political ties
Sadia Ahmed Natasha, daughter of Salah Uddin Ahmed and a resident of Uttara, Dhaka, is married to Sajid, who is the nephew of BNP Central Committee Member Abdur Razzaque. Many alleged that her career flourished under the influence of nepotism.
Following allegations of lobbying and influence in Sadia's appointment against her husband, Biman Chief of Training Captain Sajid Ahmed, Biman Bangladesh Airlines transferred him to a line pilot position.
Several charges, including abuse of power, providing unethical benefits to others (including his wife, Sadia), ill behaviour and discrimination against the cockpit crew, were considered in connection with his demotion.
Concealing information
According to Biman's recruitment guidelines, candidates must have passed HSC in the science group to be appointed as aviators or pilots. In addition, CAAB guidelines state that commercial pilots must have HSC (science) or equivalent educational qualifications with compulsory physics and mathematics.
However, records from the Dhaka Education Board show that Sadia received a second division in the humanities group as a student of Shaheed Anwar Girls College, which Sadia's husband, Sajid, concealed during recruitment.
On top of that, official documents also revealed that Sadia submitted a fake certificate claiming to have been a science student.
The Bangladesh Airline Pilots Association (BAPA) protested at the time, alleging irregularities, corruption and nepotism in recruiting pilots.
BAPA claimed that 14 newly recruited flight officers, including Sadia, had no flying hours experience as regular flight officers.
Sadia's recruitment and qualification controversy
Earlier this year, discrepancies in Biman's recruitment of five contract pilots raised questions about whether some of its officials were exploiting the system for personal gain.
One of them was Sadia Ahmed (ID number G-51745).
Sadia was appointed on November 12, 2019, and flew her first flight the following month. Her one-year contract ended on December 9, 2020, the same month the contracts of the other four pilots expired, as did their licences.
However, on February 23, 2021, Biman issued a letter to arrange a long refresher course on the Boeing-737 for the five pilots, signed by Captain Anis Ahmed, director and chief of training. The recruitment of the five pilots was later approved and they were reappointed in April 2021.
Sadia's response
Recently, Sadia Ahmed responded to CAAB's show-cause notice via email, asserting that her certificate was genuine and promising to submit evidence upon her return to Bangladesh.
In her email, she informed CAAB that she temporarily left the country due to illness. However, neither CAAB nor Biman authorities know when she left the country or when she will return.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh suspended Sadia's commercial pilot license (CPL) privileges after discovering the forged certificate.
Conflict and jealousy
Some of Sadia's colleagues told Dhaka Tribune that although her husband Sajid had experience as a crew member, Sadia herself was considered an inexperienced and underrated pilot based on her academic and training records.
When asked how the issue of irregularities was covered, they described it as BAPA's internal strife.
However, a number of Sadia's colleagues shared that they had flown with Sadia and thought she did not have enough experience to operate aircraft.
They also pointed out that not only Sadia but several other less-skilled pilots are still working for Biman.
The colleagues insisted there was nepotism in clearing Sadia's flights.
However, they have urged the Biman authorities to carry out an impartial investigation to identify more unqualified and underrated pilots like Sadia.
