US-Bangla aircraft was fit to fly: CAAB chairman

The US-Bangla Dash model aircraft that crashed at Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal’s Kathmandu yesterday was totally fit to fly before departing Dhaka, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Naim Hassan said today.

"We followed all set procedures of safety compliance before the departure of the aircraft," he told a press briefing at the CAAB headquarters.

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Mentioning that the same aircraft was operated on Dhaka-Chittagong-Dhaka route in the morning before it left for Kathmandu, he said, "If the aircraft was not fit, it would have failed to fly on Chittagong route."

The CAAB chairman said the black box of the ill-fated aircraft will be sent to Bombardier in Canada, the manufacturer of the Dash, to decode it.

"After decoding the black box, we can say whether there was a technical glitch or human error behind the crash," he added.

Naim said the Nepal government has already formed a six-member committee, headed by one of their former secretary to investigate the crash incident.

"We also formed a three-member team from our side. The members of the team are now in Kathmandu," he said, adding that according to the International Civil Aviation Organization it is the responsibility of that country to investigate where any incident takes place.

"As per the international aviation rules, we can't conduct investigation in Nepal. But our team will be there to give supports to the Nepalese probe committee," he said.

The CAAB chairman said they would try to find out the reason of the crash as soon as possible. "We will take measures so that this kind of accident cannot take place again in future," he added.

About the reported confusion between the pilot and the control tower of Thribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Naim said, "I'm neither endorsing nor denying the leaked tape as the YouTube link is not verified."

About the aircraft's pilot Abid Sultan, who was killed in the crash, Naim said he was from air force. "I got him as my student in an air force training course and he was a very bright student. I heard he had a good track record of operating dash aircraft.”