DHAKA, 5 July 2005 — The Shah Amanat International Airport in the southeastern port city of Chittagong will remain closed to international flights at least for another week, as it would not be possible by that time to salvage the crashlanded DC-10 aircraft of Bangladesh Biman Airlines.
The airport has been shut for international flights for the last three days since the accident on Friday. Domestic flight operations at the airport, however, resumed on Saturday morning. The flight BG-048 of the national flag carrier flying from Dubai with 215 passengers on board skidded off the runway after it was forced to make a belly-landing due to technical faults.
“It would take at least a week to salvage the aircraft lying on a muddy patch off the runway. An insurance company representative has already visited the scene and the aircraft would be removed after he submits a report,” a Biman official in Dhaka said yesterday.
A Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh source, however, said the rescue operation of the DC-10 is being hindered by inclement weather. The jet fuel loaded in the aircraft was removed yesterday.
Biman sources said that Peter Tyrer, a representative of Lloyd David Insurance Company reached Dhaka on Sunday night.
