Bangladeshi expert to investigate plane crash with Nepalese team

Head of Aircraft Accident Investigation Group (AAIG) of Bangladesh Captain Salahuddin M Rahmatullah left Dhaka for Kathmandu today to conduct joint investigation on US-Bangla Airlines deadly plane crash with Nepalese probe committee and other foreign experts.

‘As per Annex 13 of ICAO, one accredited representative from the airlines host country can conduct investigation jointly with the probe team of the country witnessed accident. We nominated Head of our AAIG as our accredited representative in this regards,’ said Wing Commander Chowdhury M Ziaul Kabir, Director (flight Safety and regulations) of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).

Mentioning that the AAIG Head will leave Dhaka for Kathmandu tomorrow morning, Kabir said as per the ICAO rule the accredited representative can take help form some advisers, if it is needed.

‘We keep five more officials of AAIG standby in this regards. If the AAIG Head will need support they join him as adviser later on,’ he said.

The AAIG was formed under CAAB in June, 2016 to investigate any aircraft accident independently.

Captain Saluddin said the investigation will be started formally from tomorrow. ‘I have already visited the spot after the accident. I returned home to bring back some documents with me,’ he added.

Apart from Nepalese probe committee, he said representatives from the aircraft manufacturer—Bombardier of Canada, and engine manufacturer of the aircraft, a British company will also join in the investigation.

‘There will be no representative from US-Bangla airlines in the investigation procedure to make it unbiased,’ he added.

Captain Salauddin said after taking suggestion from all experts, they will decide where the Black Box (where all record of a flight preserved) of the aircraft will be sent to decode.

‘We will find out the best place to decode the black box. It could be Canada or Singapore or any other countries, where we will find it convenient,’ he added.

At least 51 people, including 26 Bangladeshi nationals, were killed as the US-Bangla Airlines aircraft crashed and burst into flames at the Nepalese capital on Monday last.