US-Bangla airlines strictly maintains ICAO compliance: CEO

US-Bangla Airlines CEO Imran Asif today claimed that the airlines strictly maintained all compliances set by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) while operating its domestic and international flights, BSS reported.

Asif came up with the claim at a press conference organised here to clarify the airlines’ stance on the emergency landing of its Boeing 737 aircraft due to nose gear failure at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram on September 26.

“Before take-off, any flight of US-Bangla Airlines undergoes technical checking thrice. At first, foreign engineers check the flight at night and then it is checked by local engineers,” Asif said.

After that, he said, the captain of the aircraft rechecks the aircraft.

“After completion of all the cross-checking, a flight is put in place for take-off.”

About the emergency landing of the US-Bangla flight at Shah Amanat International Airport, Asif said the Cox’s Bazar-bound flight BS-141 with 171 passengers on board made the emergency landing at the airport keeping all passengers unhurt although the nose gear of the aircraft was not working for technical glitches.

Pilot Captain Zakaria Sabuj and first officer Syed Bin Rauf made emergency landing at the Shah Amanat International Airport instead of Cox’s Bazar Airport since Shah Amanat Airport has international standard emergency response services.

“The Cox’s Bazar incident is not an accident…it’s just an incident,” Asif claimed.

Although the nose gear of the aircraft has capacity to complete 18,000 cycles, the CEO said, the aircraft completed only 7,000 cycles while 11,000 cycles are yet to be used.

He said investigation continues to find out the reasons behind the aircraft’s nose gear failure.

Pilot Zakaria, who was also present at the briefing, said he and the copilot of the flight followed all the check-list procedures on the air to make a safe landing without nose gear.

Identifying the technical problem, pilot Sabuj said, they kept the aircraft on the air for a long time for exhausting its fuel for a safe landing.

After beginning its journey four years ago, the US-Bangla airlines has already operated 48,000 international and domestic flights with 98.7 percent on time performance.