Pilot, airport trade blame for delay
A Kuala Lumpur-bound flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines was delayed by around 25 minutes at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Saturday and the airport and the pilot of the plane are blaming each other for it.
The pilot of flight BG 086 wrote to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) that the crew and passengers could not board the aeroplane as the entry door in the passenger holding area was locked.
“After completing the security check at gate-5 we found the pax [passenger] holding area entry door was locked,” the pilot wrote in a letter to Caab Principal Operations Inspector Captain Fariduzzaman.
“Upon request, Caab security personnel replied 'unable to open the door as the director of the airport would come from Singapore and disembark via gate-4',” he added.
The flight to Kuala Lumpur was scheduled for 7:15pm.
The pilot further said after disembarkation of all passengers of BG 085 coming from Singapore, the security personnel opened the gate, in front of which they were waiting for about 20-25 minutes.
Group Captain Kazi Iqbal Karim, director of the airport, refuted the allegation yesterday and said he was neither a VIP nor a VVIP and that a flight could not be delayed for his security.
He added that arriving and departing passengers in no way could be mixed up as per international rules. “Since the arriving passengers of gate-4 and departing passengers of gate-5 take the same corridor, the entry door of outbound passengers and crew was locked,” he added.
He blamed the pilot for the delay.
“The pilot with his entire crew was late. The captain with crew and two to three passengers were late when the flight from Singapore with 160 passengers landed,” he said.
“So, the arriving passengers were allowed to disembark first and the entry gate was closed so that arriving and departing passengers could not get mixed up,” he added.
He further said he received the pilot's letter where he gave “false reason”.
A Biman pilot wishing anonymity said there should be separate passage to aircraft for crew members.