Biman forms body to probe breakdown of weather radar system

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has formed a committee to probe the breakdown of the weather radar system in one of its planes, which was on its return flight to Dhaka after dropping off Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Tokyo on April 25.

Captain Enamul Haque Talukder, Biman's chief of safety, was made the convener of the two-member committee, Biman said in an office order on Tuesday.

Nironjon Roy, general manager of corporate safety and quality, is the other member of the committee, according to the order signed by Siddiqur Rahman, director of administration and human resources.

The committee was asked to submit its report within three working days.

The Daily Star published a news about the incident on May 9 titled "Biman 787 suffers glitch on return flight from Tokyo".

According to the order, the decision to form the committee was taken following the aforementioned report. 

The aircraft, a Boeing 787 that joined Biman's fleet in 2018, dropped off the PM at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) on the morning of April 25, refuelled, and departed for Dhaka an hour and 45 minutes later.

During the return leg, the pilot noticed that neither of the two weather radar systems were working.

Deprived of a functioning weather radar, the pilot had to navigate the plane through the pitch-black darkness of the evening sky before safely touching down at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:17pm.

The pilot-in-command, Captain Ishtiaque Hossain, after landing in Dhaka filed a technical log.

The Daily Star obtained a copy of the log.

The technical log stated, "Both WXR [weather radar] systems return unreliable, both WXR systems test shows 'WXR fail drv [drive]' with 'WXR SYS [system]' advisory message and unusual sound from WXR antenna."

The log also included notes about what rectification measures had to be taken after landing.

"Antenna drive unit replaced," it said.

The thorough security check that all VVIP flights are subject to prior to flying did not pick up the impending motor failure.

The checks, which is conducted by Biman engineers in the presence of every single intelligence agency, and the Special Security Force, can last up to three days.

The radar system detects weather up to 50 nautical miles ahead of the aircraft, based on which pilots can make directional decisions.