US-Bangla Airlines crashes in Nepal

[Night_wolf]

Originally Posted by DinRaat.
Shame, we can't even give the families a decent report as to what happened, this is just so piss poor from both ends of the spectrum.

initial count of 51 dead was also given by nepal ministry

[ToBeFair]

If anyone is interested, a great discussion in the following aviation forum about this crash:

http://www.airliners.net/forum/viewt...ilit=us+bangla

[ToBeFair]

https://youtu.be/3jfVeq3iojg

[ToBeFair]

People’s perspective: A major blow to brand Bangladesh
Mohammad Isam
Even a single death due to accident is too many. So the statistics that there have been only two major aviation disasters in Bangladesh in the last 33 years are only of trivial importance. A tragedy in which 51 people died puts countries into a collective bereavement.
In Bangladesh's case, deadly maritime disasters and road accidents have already made us permanently nervous about our waterways and highways. When an accident is first reported, we look back at the last time we took that particular route and what awaits us the next time.

Air travel's prevalence in the country in last 20 years has already made the BS211 tragedy a relatable one. Many of the passengers performed the modern ritual of the Facebook check-in at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and taking a photo of the family or a selfie, before boarding the flight. Then we make that last phone call from inside the aircraft to the near and dear ones who dropped us off at the airport or are waiting for our arrival in the destination.

A more long-lasting consequence of this tragedy could be a deeper mistrust in Bangladeshi brands, products and companies. Boarding an aircraft even for a 30-minute flight is handing over our lives to the pilot, and by extension, the airliner's safety measures that require proper technology and regular maintenance.

There will be more analysis about the condition of the Bombardier that crashed at the Kathmandu airport, and so there should be about US-Bangla's management of the aircraft and the pilot.

If there is a question about whether the pilot was tired, then Bangladesh must know if the pilot and the first officer were of sound physical and mental condition. Did US-Bangla regularly maintain the aircraft's standard before and after a flight? Given what experts have already said, there was negligence, and in any case, most aviation disasters are a combination of human failure and technological error.


Consumers in Bangladesh have long suffered after-purchase problems. Only in 2014 did the Consumers Rights Protection Act 2009 get rules for its operation. The state machinery in charge of this hasn't held too many people accountable. There are many things that can go wrong when we buy vegetable, medicine or an air ticket. There's no proper system in place to question such people to improve the product, which in many cases puts lives in danger every day.

We are unaware of the purity of the water we drink in our homes, for example, and years of ignoring such things have also made us immune to asking questions. Forget about getting proper answers.

Despite being an American-Bangladeshi joint venture, US-Bangla is essentially a local brand, a Bangladeshi product. They are answerable to the public, and with great detail. This is the first major aviation disaster at a time when more people are using airlines like Bangladesh Biman, US-Bangla, Novo Air and Regent Airways for domestic and some international flights.

Competition within these airlines can sometimes make them careless of details, and if it turns out that there were elements of such mindset contributed to this disaster, regulators must come down hard on every airline from this point onward. It would also be helpful to the burgeoning airline industry if their standards are raised.

I think it is safe to say that we can afford a bad meal in a restaurant, a bit of dirt in our water or a dodgy gadget ordered online. But when it comes to a flight, it will be hard to let go of a questionable flight so easily.

The writer is a sports writer for espncricinfo and former reporter of The Daily Star

https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpa...ladesh-1548979

[ToBeFair]

The recent US-Bangla plane crash has suddenly brought out some bone-chilling allegations from a number of pilots of compromising flight safety by private airlines.
These pilots have been sending messages to The Daily Star, uploading posts in the social media, exchanging notes among them and discussing in private about how the airlines in their bid to maximise profit allegedly overwork their pilots, send-off flights even when the rules don't permit, or even sometimes hide defects because logging them would mean grounding of aircraft at a huge loss.


The March 12 tragedy, in which at least 51 people, including 28 Bangladeshis, were killed as the US-Bangla Airlines aircraft crashed and burst into flames while landing at the Kathmandu airport in Nepal, appeared to have deeply rattled the conscience of a rather small circle of pilots.

Some of them are urging others to stand up and start to say no to the compromises they routinely make under pressure of management.

“It's human lives that are at stake! This is what we pilots deal with every single day. It's a sacred duty, not the glamorous job the media portrays!” reads one of the passionate appeals that did the rounds on social media.

The Daily Star talked with half a dozen pilots. None of them wanted to have their names revealed because they fear their services would be jeopardised and none of the allegations could be independently verified.


But since the nature of allegations coming from a variety of aviators is similar, those deserve special attention for the sake of passengers' safety.

Though expressed in privacy, their opinions and concerns should be discreetly assessed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) and the government before taking appropriate actions to address the grim issues.

One pilot wrote: “This accident was just waiting to happen. The safety culture or truly speaking the 'lack of it' in private sector is simply outrageous!”

He alleged that pilots are forced by management to operate in situations where it's prudent not to fly. Maintaining flight schedule and commercial considerations take precedence over flight safety.

Another pilot, a captain, wrote: “We routinely observe private carriers shooting approaches well below the minimum visibility, departing for a destination with very marginal weather or visibility, compromising on technical issues, flying without weather radar, forbidding pilots to give entry in the engineering log especially at outstations as grounding would cost money!

“I've often seen Biman or other foreign carriers holding for visibility to improve in winter when …. [names of two private airlines] not only commencing approach but landing!!,” he wrote.

One pilot shared how he was forced to fly while he was trying to apply “pilot discretion” in a foggy morning of December last year.

“There was no permission to fly from tower for low visibility. A phone call came [from the head office] moments after I declined to fly the plane to Chittagong. I was shouted at and told to take off on the dot,” he told this newspaper.

My employer is a time-freak, and has ways to manage airport authorities, he said with a wry smile.

Many pilots also questioned how US-Bangla airlines could send a very inexperienced first officer as co-pilot to Kathmandu. The budget airline maintains such risky practice in absence of expert manpower on its payroll -- an allegation it routinely refutes.

A Qatar Airways pilot believed that Captain Abid Sultan, pilot of the ill-fated US-Bangla plane, made a “massive pilot error” by doing dual jobs of communicating with the tower while landing at a dangerous airport like the one in Kathmandu.

“The captain took over communication and was also flying. And it's due to the inexperience of the first officer [who was reported to be on her first trip to Nepal].”

A very seasoned pilot of Biman Bangladesh Airlines wrote: “I've heard many harrowing stories from our first officers who were in the private sector before. Even if there are some exaggerations, even if I consider only 25 percent of what they say is true, it is alarming.”

“Biman doesn't allow such inexperienced first officers even to fly to Cox's Bazar!” he continues.

The companies don't accept “no” for an answer when it comes to flying even in extreme conditions.

A captain, who flies Dreamliners for a Middle Eastern airline, alleged pilots were even fired from private companies for refusing to accept unsafe operation.

He mentioned that one local airline had its pilot fired because the aviator said he was “fatigued”. And fatigue comes from overwork.

One pilot was fired because he did not take off as the weather at the destination airport was below the minimum required. One pilot was fired because he complained about Saidpur airport's non-standard light.

Another Bangladeshi pilot working at a foreign airline thinks the reporting and follow-up at the Caab and within the airlines are not dependable. The airlines do not report safety issues to the Caab and the Caab also doesn't follow up.

Most of the pilots appeared quite critical of the role of some Caab officials.

They are the ones who keep the regulators' eyes and ears shut, alleged a Turkish Airline pilot, who worked for a private airline a few years back.

“Compromise is for money and gifts,” the pilot quipped.

https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpa...rivate-1550236

[ToBeFair]

Initial report came:

"The landing alignment of the aircraft was not right," Capt Salahuddin M Rahmatullah, head of Aircraft Accident Investigation Group (AAIG) of Bangladesh, came up the findings at a press conference at the office of the Civil Aviation Authority in Dhaka this afternoon.

https://www.thedailystar.net/country...gnment-1561822

http://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh...��াডায়

[ToBeFair]

US-Bangla pilot was mentally stressed, reckless: Nepali probe report

Some excerts:

Investigators say Sultan had been smoking cigarettes frequently during the hour-long flight from Dhaka to Kathmandu. The former Bangladeshi Air Force pilot, who had clocked more than 5,500 flying hours, had not disclosed to the airlines that he was a smoker, leading investigators to conclude that Sultan was undergoing severe mental stress inside the cockpit.

“When we analysed the conversation on the Cockpit Voice Recorder, it was clear to us that the captain was harbouring severe mental stress. He also seemed to be fatigued and tired due to lack of sleep,” investigators wrote in the report. “He was crying on several occasions.”

The voice recorder has captured nearly an hour-long conversation between the captain and his co-pilot in the cockpit, further demonstrating Sultan’s tensed mood throughout the flight and a complete lack of situational awareness.“I don’t f…ing care about safe flight, you f… your duty,” Sultan said at one point inside the cockpit, according to the report. It was not clear whom the pilot was directing the statement at, as the co-pilot was the only crew member present inside the cockpit during the flight.

At one point during the flight, according to details from the audio recorder, the pilot broke down and said that he was “very upset and hurt by the behaviour of the female colleague” and that “she was the only reason he was leaving the company.” The captain had expressed his desire to resign a day before the accident, the report says, although he had not submitted any written documents. He said that he wished to continue on the job for three more months to complete training the co-pilots.