Shawdesh Desk:

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has formed a three-member committee to investigate alleged widespread irregularities in the recruitment of pilots in the national flag carrier.

The national airliner on October 12 formed the committee following the filing of a petition at the High Court by lawyer Tanvir Ahmed in May.

The Daily Star in March published two news articles on irregularities in the recruitment of pilots in Biman.

Muhammad Ashraf Ali Faruk, additional secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, was made the convener of the committee.

In February last year, Biman recruited a batch of contractual pilots to fly its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, claiming that it needed pilots immediately due to a shortage.

A year later, only five of the batch of 14 pilots, have taken to the air. The rest are lost in a quagmire of forged certificates, incompetence and failed licensing exams.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) called it a “safety concern” in official correspondence and even the Prime Minister’s Office intervened and asked the national flag carrier to investigate.

According to a document of Biman dated February 13 this year, out of the 14 recruited, only four captains and a first officer passed all the tests to fly the plane.

For example, Sadia Ahmed, the first officer in Biman (who was later suspended) had submitted a forged educational certificate, claiming that she was a student of the science group during her higher secondary school exams.

Data retrieved from the Dhaka Board of Education, however, shows that she was a student of humanities, passing in second division from Shaheed Anwar Girls’ College in Bangla, English, civics, psychology, and home economics.

The CAAB rulebook mandates that all commercial pilots must have an educational qualification of HSC (Science) or equivalent with mandatory physics and mathematics.

Sadia, wife of Biman former chief of training Capt Sazid Ahmed, reportedly left the country without appearing before a probe body formed by Biman to investigate the incident.