The Bangladesh government has established a nine-member commission to investigate last week`s crash of its Air Force training jet into a school in Dhaka, which resulted in the deaths of 34 people, predominantly students, according to a media report.
The F-7 BGI aircraft, a Chinese-manufactured training fighter jet, reportedly suffered a “mechanical fault” shortly after takeoff last Monday and subsequently crashed into a two-storey building of Milestone School and College in Dhaka`s Uttara area.
The probe commission, led by former secretary AKM Zafar Ullah Khan, has been tasked with submitting its report within four weeks, The Daily Star newspaper cited a Cabinet Division gazette issued on Sunday. The other members of the commission include a retired air vice marshal, three additional secretaries from different ministries, the Dhaka divisional commissioner, an urban planner, and a professor from the mechanical engineering department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
The commission`s mandate includes examining the cause of the tragic crash, assessing the extent of damage and casualties, and determining responsibilities, as per the report. It will specifically assess the loss of lives and injuries sustained by students, teachers, and others, and ascertain the full scope of damages.
Furthermore, the commission will review the construction of Milestone School and College, along with other structures near the airport. It will also evaluate the legal and administrative aspects related to the location and safety of the flying zone and put forth recommendations to avert similar accidents in the future. Additionally, it will offer suggestions on the operation of training aircraft, the construction of buildings within flying zones, and emergency response protocols for catastrophic events.
The Bangladesh Air Force had already formed its own high-level investigation committee to determine the cause of the accident.
This crash stands as one of the deadliest in Bangladesh`s history. The last such aviation tragedy occurred in 1984, when 49 people died after a passenger jet crashed while attempting to land during a severe rainstorm at Dhaka airport.
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