A government probe has found that the pilot’s error during a training flight caused the tragic accident at Milestone School and College at Uttara in Dhaka on July 21, in which 36 people — including 28 students — lost their lives.Ìý
The findings were submitted to chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday by the head of the investigation committee, principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division Lieutenant General Kamrul Hasan, who recommended that all initial Air Force training flights be conducted outside Dhaka for public safety.
The committee was formed on July 29 to determine the cause of the accident, which occurred when a Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed on the school premises.
Briefing reporters at the Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, chief adviser’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam said that the report identified the pilot’s operational error as the main cause behind bthe accident.
‘During training, the pilot lost control of the aircraft when the situation went beyond his command,’ he said.
The seven-member committee interviewed around 150 people — including experts, eyewitnesses, and the victims’ families — and gathered 168 pieces of information before submitting 33 recommendations to prevent similar incidents.
The report also revealed that the Milestone School building had not been approved under the Bangladesh National Building Code.
The building had only one central staircase instead of the required three, which contributed to the high number of casualties, the report said.
Another major recommendation was to expand and improve airstrips in Barishal and Bogura to enhance safety during training operations.
The chief adviser directed that this work be carried out on an urgent basis.
The report also noted concerns about building regulations within areas recently brought under Rajuk’s jurisdiction — including Savar, Kanchan, and Tarabo — and instructed that Rajuk’s BNBC-compliant approval system be uniformly applied in those areas.
Additional recommendations included ensuring that airport fire stations should be equipped with foam tenders for aviation-related fires, and that the Civil Aviation Authority should enforce height and structural restrictions near runways.
The report further advised that certain high-density facilities such as schools, hospitals, and warehouses should not be located near the take-off and landing zones — known as the funnel area — to reduce potential risks from future accidents.
The investigation also highlighted the shortage of training aircraft in the Air Force and recommended steps to address it.
Press secretary said that the chief adviser instructed the authorities concerned to implement the recommendations swiftly to prevent future tragedies.
Ìý
