On Monday afternoon, a Bangladesh Air Force training plane tragically crashed onto the Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka’s Uttara district, killing at least 16 people—most of them young students. The devastating incident struck as children were attending exams, turning a routine school day into a scene of horror.
According to the office of interim leader Muhammad Yunus, over 100 individuals were injured in the catastrophe, with at least 83 rushed to nearby hospitals for urgent medical care.
Television footage captured thick smoke and fierce flames billowing from the crash site, while desperate onlookers and rescue teams battled to extinguish the fire. Viral videos circulating on social media show terrified children scrambling to escape the chaos.
The nation mourns this heartbreaking loss, as investigations into the cause of the crash are now underway.
In a brief statement, the Bangladesh Army’s public relations office confirmed that the crashed F-7 BGI aircraft belonged to the Air Force.
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus assured the public that “necessary measures” would be taken to provide “all kinds of assistance” to the victims and their families, while also launching a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident.
“The loss suffered by the Air Force, students, parents, teachers, staff, and the wider community is irreparable,” Yunus said.
Preliminary reports from the local newspaper Prothom Alo suggest the jet collided with the roof of the college canteen before crashing.
This tragic incident follows closely on the heels of one of the world’s deadliest aviation disasters in over a decade: last month, an Air India flight crashed into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad, India, killing 241 of 242 passengers aboard and 19 people on the ground.
Early investigations into the Air India crash revealed that fuel switches on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner lost thrust shortly after takeoff. Cockpit audio recorded one pilot questioning why the fuel was cut off in the final moments, while the other denied doing so.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) report did not specify which pilot spoke or who transmitted the urgent distress call: “Thrust not achieved… falling… Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!”
Despite the tragedy, early findings suggest no fault with the Boeing aircraft or its GE engines. However, the report left unanswered questions about how the fuel cutoff switches—normally left on during flight—were moved to the off position.
“Did the switches move on their own, or were they deliberately moved by the pilots? And if so, why?” investigators asked.
The report noted the plane carried 54,200 kg of fuel within allowable limits. It detailed that just after reaching a maximum airspeed of 180 knots, the fuel cutoff switches for both engines transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF within seconds, causing the engines to lose power.
Subsequent data showed that one fuel cutoff switch was later moved back to RUN, and the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) began its auto-start sequence, consistent with emergency procedures.
At 08:08:56 UTC, the Engine 2 fuel cutoff switch was switched back from CUTOFF to RUN.
“When the fuel control switches are moved from CUTOFF to RUN during flight, each engine’s Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system automatically initiates a relight and thrust recovery sequence, managing ignition and fuel flow to restore engine power.”