A Saidpur-bound flight of state-carrier Biman made Tuesday an emergency landing at the Dhaka airport, in what is attributed to "cabin pressure."
Cabin pressure is a process in which conditioned air is pumped into the cabin of an aircraft in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for passengers.
The emergency landing occurred 18 minutes after taking off from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport due to technical glitch. There were no injuries, however.
Although the pilot made the emergency landing, Biman authorities refused to call it an emergency event.
The emergency situation involving the national flag carrier came a week after privately-owned US-Bangla Airlines' plane crash-landed in Nepal, killing 49.
An air traffic control official at the airport, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the FE that the BG-493 aircraft took off at 12:26 pm and returned to the Dhaka airport at 12:44 pm after a technical problem was detected.
"The plane returned due to cabin pressure problem. It was one kind of emergency landing, though not of serious kind," the official said.
He noted that if the air pressure in the cabin is not maintained same as the ground, the aircraft cannot fly to the higher level.
If happens, the cabin pressure problem can cause passengers' nasal or oral bleeding, he said.
"There are many kinds of emergency landing. When cabin pressure falls, it is an emergency situation," the official added.
When contacted, Biman's engineering department declined to comment.
Biman's spokesperson Shakil Meraj told the FE that the flight left Dhaka for Saidpur at around 12:10 pm and started returning after reaching the mid-way.
It is a 40-minute flight from Dhaka to Saidpur. The plane landed at 12:50 pm.
"It was in no way an emergency landing, rather it was normal landing. The plane made a test flight after repairing and left Dhaka again at 6:00pm," he said.
The Dash 8-Q400 aircraft was carrying 67 passengers, three cockpit crew members, one engineer and two cabin crew.
Mr Shakil said the flight could not leave at the pre-scheduled 3:00 pm as it could not complete the test flight in due time due to occupancy of the runway.
The flight was cancelled, he said.
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