Dhaka: The Bangladesh government has constituted a nine-member commission to investigate the Air Force training jet crash that killed 34 people, most of them schoolchildren, after the aircraft slammed into a school building in Dhaka’s Uttara area last Monday.
The tragic incident involved an F-7 BGI, a Chinese-manufactured training fighter jet, which reportedly encountered a mechanical failure shortly after takeoff before crashing into a two-storey structure of Milestone School and College.
According to The Daily Star, the commission—led by former bureaucrat AKM Zafar Ullah Khan—has been tasked with submitting its findings within four weeks.
Members of the panel include a retired air vice marshal, three additional secretaries from relevant ministries, the Dhaka divisional commissioner, an urban planner, and a mechanical engineering professor from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
The commission’s mandate includes identifying the cause of the crash, evaluating the extent of casualties and damage, and fixing responsibility.
The panel will also assess the structural and legal aspects surrounding Milestone School and nearby buildings, especially in the context of their proximity to a military flying zone.
Additionally, the commission will recommend improvements in air safety, zoning regulations, and emergency preparedness to help prevent such incidents in the future.
ALSO READ: Tripura CM accuses ally Tipra Motha of attacking BJP workers, orders strict action
This includes suggestions on aircraft operations, construction within flight paths, and disaster response protocols.
Separately, the Bangladesh Air Force has launched its own high-level investigation to determine the technical and operational causes of the crash.
The incident is being described as one of the worst aviation tragedies in Bangladesh in recent memory.
The last major disaster occurred in 1984, when 49 people lost their lives in a commercial plane crash during a storm at Dhaka airport.
