The wreckage of the crashed training aircraft of the Air Force was recovered from the bottom of the Karnaphuli River at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal in Patenga after an 11-hour long operation. The plane was recovered at around 10 pm on Thursday (May 9) with the help of Bangladesh Navy’s rescue ship ‘Balban’.
The Air Force’s Yak-130 training fighter crashed in the Patenga container terminal area of Chittagong port around 10:30 am on Thursday. According to ISPR, the accident occurred due to a mechanical fault.
Two pilots of the aircraft were rescued with injuries. Air force squadron leader Muhammad Asim Jawad later died while undergoing treatment. Another pilot injured in the incident is still undergoing treatment at the hospital.
As seen in a video, the training fighter caught fire shortly after take off. At that time, two pilots in the plane went down by parachute. At one point the plane crashed in Karnaphuli river.
The Yak-130 is a Russian-made training fighter. This twin-engine aircraft is also useful during wartime. Such aircraft are typically used for small-scale attacks.
16 aircraft of this model were purchased for the Air Force under the 2014 Russian loan agreement. Since 2015, the Air Force has been using them as training fighter jets.
According to the media department of Chittagong Navy, after the crash of the training aircraft, the Navy joined the rescue operation with the Air Force from 11 o’clock. Fighting against strong river currents and tides, the Navy’s diving team managed to locate the aircraft with the help of modern equipment.
At last around 10 pm, with the help of Navy rescue ship Balban, the crashed training aircraft was able to be raised from the bottom of the river.
The aircraft was inspected by senior officers of the Navy and Air Force at around 11 pm. Currently, the process of handing over the aircraft to the Air Force is underway.
