Anomalies aplenty in Biman

The Biman Bangladesh Airline's policy, procedure, or activity does not fully comply with the approved company manuals or the applicable regulatory standard, finds a recent audit report of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.

The Air Operator Certificate (AOC) renewal audit for 2022 assessed Biman's level of conformance with the regulatory requirements, and identified 39 operational and 10 airworthiness objections.

The objections were identified in the areas of Air Operator Certificate Management and Finance (two), flight operations (seven), cabin safety (14), airworthiness (10), ground handling (10), flight dispatch (two) and dangerous goods (four).

Biman also failed to ensure they have adequate manpower for safe operations.

The CAAB in its audit report expressed concern regarding the Continuing Airworthiness Management Exposition (CAME) where required Reliability Control Board (RCB) meetings were not conducted on a regular basis.

CAME is a set of processes by which an aircraft, engine, propeller or part complies with the applicable requirements for flight operation and remains in a sustainable condition for safe functioning throughout its operational life.

Besides, RCB refers to how well an aircraft's systems are maintained over time to ensure safe operation.

Also, the maintenance of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft was found not updated in accordance with the latest revision of the relevant maintenance programme document (MPD), the report added.

Meanwhile, during the sample aircraft inspection of Biman's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, registered S2-AJU, the Universal Precaution Kits (UPK) was not found in the proper place as per the Location of Passenger Accommodations (LOPA).

"Most of these (objections) represent deficiencies in process, procedures and guidelines that are to be specified in the company operations manuals, the Cabin Safety Manual, Dangerous Goods Manual, Flight Dispatch Manual, and the Ground Handling Manual," the report said.

Cabin Operation & Safety Manual (COSM) was also found not updated with the CAAB's requirements concerning flight and duty time limitations and the rest time for pilots and cabin crew, it said.

Besides, Biman issued authorisation to its personnel for the positions of In-flight Entertainment (IFE) and in-charge cabin safety without ensuring proper requirements, the audit added.

Additionally, Biman could not provide documentary evidence of updating the existing operation manuals with the current regulatory requirements.

Biman also could not establish necessary policies and procedures for the documentation of flight crew training records, and specific procedures to ensure the preservation of the required training documents of cabin crews in a standardised manner for traceability, the report mentioned.

Also, the organisation could not produce necessary evidence to ensure availability of adequate cabin crew for safe aircraft operation in its existing routes.

For cabin crew recruitment, qualifications mentioned in the recent Biman circular do not match with those established in the Continued Operational and Safety Manual.

Also, the Cabin Operation and Safety Manual was not found in the organisation's training facility.

No training record was found for the locally recruited personnel working in different foreign stations, and the Grade-6 officers and above in the Ground Service Equipment (GSE) division.

The airline has valid insurance coverage for all aircraft but failed to show any documented policy requiring the liabilities to be covered, the report revealed.

Biman also failed to show that they have sufficient GSE to perform safe ground handling operations in Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet airports.

Similarly, the Emergency Response Plan was not found in GSE maintenance and operations.

All of Biman's 81 newly-recruited ground service assistants have been deployed in operational duties before completing the required mandatory training programme.

WHAT BIMAN NEEDS

The report recommended Biman to give attention to different areas including ensuring availability of the required number of qualified and competent personnel in all areas of operational activities.

The airline also needs to complete a review of the operations, flight dispatch, cabin safety, and ground handling manuals to ensure full compliance with the recent changes to the CAAB requirements.

"The airline is required to find the root causes of each of the findings. Based on the root causes, the airline is required to design the necessary corrective action plan (CAP) to resolve each of the findings within the agreed time frame," the report added.