Untimely inspection delays Biman’s London-bound flight

A London-bound flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines was delayed today for 40 minutes thanks to an untimely inspection of the aircraft by a security supervisor of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.

The flight BG-201 was scheduled to take off from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 8:10am. But it finally departed at 8:51am causing suffering to the passengers, sources at the Biman flight told The Daily Star.

Crews of the flight said, under any circumstances, a security supervisor cannot hamper the scheduled departure of any commercial flight.

A report was lodged at the airport regarding this incident saying, "Without any prior notice CAAB authority, led by a security supervisor Mr. Nazrul Islam, carried out an inspection just before BFCC (Biman Flight Catering Centre) loading."

As a result, BFCC and cargo loading was delayed, the report said.

"Upon enquiry, we (cockpit crew) came to know that no Biman agencies were aware of this inspection," the report also mentioned.

"Inspection audit is being carried out all over the world. But nowhere in the world such inspection is being carried out hampering the flight schedule," a senior pilot of Biman Bangladesh Airlines told The Daily Star.

Group Captain Kamrul Islam, executive director at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, defending the inspection, said direct flight operations on London or Canada route will cease to exist if security inspection is not carried out properly.

"The inspection was carried out following proper protocol," he also added.