Experts: Kathmandu Post report on US-Bangla plane crash baseless

Bangladeshi aviation sector stakeholders involved in the US-Bangla Airlines plane crash investigation have termed the Kathmandu Post report, accusing the pilot of the accident, baseless.

Nothing can be said before the investigation is finished which may take till the end of this year, they said.

Bangladesh has protested against the news to the Nepalese authorities and their Nepalese counterpart has also apologized for publishing the news at this moment, they added.

According to the Kathmandu Post report, the Nepalese government’s investigation into March’s US-Bangla Airlines’ plane crash has accused the pilot, Captain Abid Sultan, for the accident—saying that he was under tremendous stress and anxiety and that he made a series of erroneous decisions which led to the crash.

Captain Salahuddin M Rahmatullah, chief flight operations inspector at Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) deemed it fake news.

“As far as the investigation commission is concerned, of which I am the accredited representative, the news is baseless. We have protested to Nepal Accident Investigation Commission on the news,” he said.

“Completion of the probe will take several more months and cannot be completed before December. Nothing can be said on the accident before it is complete,” said Rahmatullah, who is also head of Aircraft Accident Investigation Group-Bangladesh (AAIG-BD).

Also Read- Nepal govt probe: US-Bangla pilot was mentally stressed and reckless

Fifty one people were killed when Flight BS211 of US-Bangla Airlines crashed in Nepal carrying 67 passengers and four crew members on March 12.

Md Kamrul Islam, general manager (marketing support and public relations) of of the airlines, said they are waiting for the investigation report to conclude.

“We are waiting for the investigation report that will be prepared based on findings of the cockpit. But there is no possibility of publishing the report before November-December,” he said.

“We do not know what actually happened during the crash without data from cockpit. Is there any possibility to report on the issue while it is under investigation?” he questioned.

Kamrul also raised questions about the authenticity of the reports as the investigation committee is yet to publish the report—and there is no source of information what happened during the crash except the black box.

CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Naim Hassan questioned the authenticity of the report.

“We have already spoken to the Nepalese authorities who have apologized for this report as the investigation has not been completed yet. We do not think the report is authentic and there is no reason to believe it,” he added.