Biman flight grounded in Kathmandu over technical glitch

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight could not take off from Kathmandu due to a technical problem on Sunday, leaving 127 passengers stranded at Tribhuvan International Airport for several hours.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines later sent another aircraft from Dhaka to bring the stranded passengers home.

Flight BG-372 was scheduled to leave Kathmandu for Dhaka at 4pm on Sunday, with boarding scheduled for 3pm.

However, the flight could not depart as scheduled after a technical problem was detected before take-off, leaving the 127 passengers stranded at the airport.

To deal with the situation and bring the passengers home as soon as possible, Biman sent an alternative aircraft from Dhaka to Kathmandu.

Mahiuddin Khan, general manager of Biman's public relations department, said, “A flight has been grounded in Kathmandu due to a technical problem. Another aircraft has been sent from Dhaka to bring the passengers home. The alternative flight was scheduled to depart Kathmandu for Dhaka at around 11:15pm Bangladesh time.”

This means the passengers are expected to return home on the alternative flight nearly seven hours after their scheduled departure time.

The latest incident has renewed discussion about technical problems affecting Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft.

On 6 August, flight BG-306 from Toronto to Dhaka also developed a technical problem. The flight, carrying 259 passengers, made a scheduled stop in Rome, Italy, to refuel. A technical fault was detected there, preventing the aircraft from departing for Dhaka as scheduled.

The passengers were subsequently stranded at Rome airport for an extended period, causing considerable inconvenience.

Biman later sent expert technicians and the necessary equipment from Dhaka to repair the aircraft. Following the repairs, the flight departed Rome for Dhaka with the passengers.