Biman aircraft suffers tire puncture during take-off at Sylhet airport
Flight operations remained suspended for more than three hours
A Boeing aircraft's wheel was punctured with a loud noise during take-off at Sylhet Osmani International Airport, causing panic among the passengers on-board.
Although there were no casualties, flight operations at the airport remained suspended for more than three hours since the incident.
According to Osmani Airport sources, Biman's Boeing-737 aircraft was scheduled to take off from Sylhet airport for Dhaka at 12:55pm Friday (3 February) with 148 passengers.
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As the aircraft took off from the runway, the rear wheel exploded with a loud noise causing a severe shaking in the entire aircraft.
A passenger of this flight, Mostak Hayat Khan, said that there was panic among the passengers after such an incident.
"Suddenly there was a loud noise. Then the plane started shaking. All the passengers were shocked. Some even started shouting," he said.
Mostak also said, "When the shaking started, the pilot slowed down the speed of the plane a little. Then he tried to fly again but the shaking started again. Later they found out that the rear wheel was punctured."
He said, "We were stuck inside the plane for about 40 minutes after this incident. Later we were brought to the airport lounge."
Hafiz Ahmed, director of Osmani International Airport, said that the flight operations at Osmani were stopped due to an aircraft being stuck on the runway with a burst wheel. After the repairs, it will be removed from the runway and the airport will be opened for flight operations.
He said that the operations of the airport may become normal in the afternoon.
Hafiz Ahmad stated that the passengers were not harmed due to the accident and said that the airline authority will take the stranded passengers to Dhaka on an alternative flight.
