Training aircraft breaks down at Rajshahi airport, crew onboard unharmed

Flight operations remained suspended for around two hours at the Shah Makhdum Airport in Rajshahi after a training aircraft lost two of its wheels while landing on the runway Saturday afternoon.

The incident occurred when an aircraft (S2-AFK Cessna 152) of Galaxy Flying Academy was landing at the airport runway around 3pm, confirmed Abdul Motin, security supervisor of the airport.

The pilot and his trainer have been rescued safely from the spot, he said, adding that the flying academy officials were working to identify the reason behind the accident.  

The aircraft was removed from the runway within an hour of the accident and flight operations resumed at around 6pm, he added. 

He also added that no committee has been formed to investigate the incident. However, senior officials from the Dhaka office will arrive in Rajshahi on Sunday to inspect the damage.

Rajshahi Airport police station officer-in-charge (OC) Nurul Amin said the training aircraft’s rear right wheel and the nose wheel broke off in the middle of the runway as it was landing from the north.

He added that Captain Mashiur Rahman, the chief flying instructor of Galaxy Flying Academy, was the pilot himself. He was accompanied by two others, including a trainee Raihan Gafur. They survived unharmed.

On April 1, 2015, a female trainee pilot Tamanna Rahman, 22, was killed and the trainer injured when a training aircraft (Cessna 152) crashed at the Shah Makhdum Airport in Rajshahi.

The training aircraft of Bangladesh Flying Academy and Civil Aviation Limited caught fire just after take-off and crashed just 15 or 20 yards away from the runway.

Trainee pilot Tamanna died on the spot and trainer Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Sayeed Kamal was injured.

As per the instructor's directive, the pilot made a 180-turn before the plane even reached 200 feet altitude when the minimum altitude required for the manoeuvre was 700 feet, said crash investigators and experts following the crash.