Nearly 20 passengers and crew aboard a Biman Bangladeshi Airlines flight were injured yesterday evening as their plane slammed into the tarmac of Yangon International Airport and overran the runway amid heavy rains.
Airport authorities said in a statement that flight BG060 from Dhaka skidded off the runway during the landing attempt at 6:51pm local time, after which the runway was closed according to air traffic control procedures.
Photos of the crash circulated widely on social media yesterday, showing the jet in three pieces on the side of the runway as well as several images of injured men, women and children being carted outside the airport. A pilot and flight attendant were among the injured.
Photos at Yangon International Airport today evening, Biman Airline flight slipped off runway at Yangon International Airport today evening. pic.twitter.com/BWWtthyJhX
— KyawWin (@mrkyawwin) May 8, 2019
Biman Bangladesh Airline skidded off the runway during go around at Yangon International Airport. pic.twitter.com/Em50SwKZVD
— Nay Myo Tin (@naymyotin) May 8, 2019
The plane, which was carrying 30 passengers and six crew members was attempting to land near Terminal 3 at the time of the accident, according to a police officer who spoke to Coconuts Yangon on condition of anonymity.
The passengers were Bangladeshi, Burmese, Canadian, Chinese, Indian, Swiss, and French, AFP reported.
Nineteen of them were admitted to North Okkalapa Hospital last night, and four were released later the same evening, according to a hospital official.
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A number of Naypyidaw-Yangon flights were grounded while authorities cleared up the debris, while others were forced to circle overhead for lack of runways.
A passenger on Myanmar Airlines flight 8M332 told Coconuts Yangon that their flight was supposed to land at 8pm, but they were kept in the air for an hour and a half before they finally be cleared for landing.
“We were supposed to land at 8pm but we landed around 9:30pm. They only allowed us to land after they cleared [everything],” Minn Thant Zin Kyaw said.
While civilian crashes are rare, aviation accidents in the military have become more common. In 2017, bad weather caused a military plane to crash into the Adaman sea, killing 122 people on board, in one of the worst aviation accidents in Myanmar’s history.
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