A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight bound for Dhaka was forced to return to Dubai after a crack appeared in the cockpit windshield mid-flight.

The Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which departed from Dubai at 6:50am local time on Sunday, was scheduled to arrive in the Bangladeshi capital at 6:55pm. However, flight BG-0348, carrying 244 passengers, returned to Dubai after a fault was detected approximately two hours into the flight, while flying over Oman.

“A flight left for Dubai at 12:50pm today (Sunday) to bring back the passengers of the affected flight. It is expected to reach Dubai International Airport around 5:00pm and return to Dhaka with all passengers at 10:50pm, four hours behind schedule,” Boshra Islam, General Manager of Biman’s Public Relations wing, told the Daily Sun.

Sakia Sultana, Regional Manager of Biman’s Dubai office, said that arrangements were made for the stranded passengers.

She said, “Once onboard, the passengers were served dinner. We also provided breakfast in the morning and arranged lunch for the afternoon. There are 12 women and children among the passengers. We took them to the Marhaba Lounge at the airport as we were unable to arrange hotel accommodation on such short notice.”

Md Mizan Hossain, a passenger on the flight, said that the captain announced the return to Dubai after a minor issue was discovered with the plane’s front windshield while in Omani airspace.

“Although it’s a bit inconvenient at the airport, we’ve accepted the situation. The most important thing is that we returned to Dubai safely. Thanks to Almighty Allah for protecting so many lives. However, Biman needs to address why such incidents are happening repeatedly,” he said.

Boshra Islam stated that the aircraft in question belongs to a new generation of planes equipped with systems that detect and signal any difficulties.

“These aircraft automatically notify us of any problems. Our engineers carried out all necessary checks, but the issue occurred suddenly. We have already contacted Boeing to address the matter and provide us with their cooperation,” she added.

This is not the first time that the windshield of a Biman aircraft has cracked. On 21 January this year, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner en route from Dhaka to Saudi Arabia experienced a similar issue while carrying 297 passengers. The windshield cracked two hours after take-off.

In June, a Biman Boeing 737-7 flight from Chattogram to Abu Dhabi was forced to make an emergency landing in Dhaka after its windshield cracked. Similarly, in February 2022, a Boeing 737 was grounded in Malaysia following a cockpit glass crack, and in August of that year, another Dreamliner was forced to return to Dhaka from Indian airspace while en route to Doha due to a windshield crack.