An evacuation slide of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft was deployed on Sunday evening for a Dhaka-bound flight from Bangkok, the second such incident in seven months.
The first incident involved the first Dreamliner 787 Akashbeena, which arrived in Dhaka in August last year.
The first incident took place on September 11 last year when a sixth grade trainee engineer Mustafizul Haque deployed the slide mistakenly, although he was not authorised to operate any parts of the new Boeing 787 until completion of his training and without the permission of the supervisor.
After the incident, Mustafizul has been suspended for one year until an inquiry is completed.
The second incident involved the Dreamliner Hangshabalaka.
A Biman source said on Tuesday that the slide of the aircraft, which arrived in Dhaka at 7:55pm on Sunday from Bangkok, was deployed accidentally by chief purser of the aircraft Ms Lipi (roster name).
A slide/raft is an evacuation slide that can be used both as a means of escape in a land evacuation and as a life raft if an aircraft lands on water.
Experts said the raft usually falls off when the door is opened in "armed" mode. The door must be disarmed before opening.
When contacted, duty engineer of the engineering department of Biman declined to make any comment on the incident saying he was not the authorised person to do so.
Biman General Manager (public relations) Shakil Meraj told the FE that it was a front-door slide which can evacuate only 12 business class passengers.
The slide will be sent for 'shop visit' or checking, he said, but could not say when.
After the incident, 15 passengers could not fly in each flight as no new slide was installed in the aircraft as of Tuesday evening, sources said. It is feared that the plane would not be able to fly unless the slide/raft is repaired immediately.
The Dreamliner has six slides, each of which can help evacuate 55 passengers during an emergency.
The aircraft cannot carry a specific number of passengers unless a new slide/raft is installed, the sources added.
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