[🇧🇩-Airforce] A trainer jet crashes, 19 people die.

[Saif]

How did a Bangladesh air force fighter jet crash into a school campus

The fighter aircraft took off from the air force base in Dhaka's Kurmitola for a routine training mission, but experienced a mechanical failure soon after.

en.prothomalo.com

How did a Bangladesh air force fighter jet crash into a school campus
Reuters New Delhi
Updated: 22 Jul 2025, 19: 28

Firefighters work to remove the wreckage from a building, after an air force training aircraft crashed into Milestone College campus, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 21 July 2025. Reuters

At least 25 children were among the 27 people killed when a Bangladesh Air Force plane crashed into a college and school campus in the capital city of Dhaka on Monday.

Here is a look at what happened.

How did the crash occur?

The fighter aircraft took off at 1:06 p.m. (0706 GMT) from the air force base in Dhaka's Kurmitola for a routine training mission, but experienced a mechanical failure soon after.

The pilot attempted to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas to minimize civilian casualties and damage, but his efforts were unsuccessful and the jet crashed into a building.

Where did the plane go down?

The two-storey building that the plane rammed into belonged to the Milestone School and College in Dhaka's Diabari area, located about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the air force base.

Visuals from the scene showed the mangled remains of the aircraft dented into the side of the building, dismantling its iron grills and creating a gaping hole in the structure.

How many people were killed?

The bodies of at least 27 people, including 25 children, a teacher, and the jet's pilot, were pulled out from the debris.

More than 100 children and 15 other people were also injured, of whom 78 are still admitted in hospitals with burn injuries.

Which aircraft was involved in the incident?

The jet was an F-7 fighter aircraft - the final and most advanced variant in China's Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family, according to Jane's Information Group.

Bangladesh had signed a contract in 2011 for 16 such planes, and deliveries were completed by 2013.

How have authorities reacted?

The Bangladesh Air Force has formed a high-level investigation committee to probe the cause of the accident.

Muhammad Yunus, the head of the country's interim government, has also vowed to "take all necessary measures" to investigate its cause.

In the meantime, the government says it is providing "all kinds of assistance" to those affected.​

 

[Saif]

How Tejgaon’s silent runway is choking Dhaka’s future

Since 2011, the CAAB has identified at least 525 illegal high-rises encroaching on approach paths at HSIA and the old Tejgaon Airport runway.

www.thedailystar.net

How Tejgaon’s silent runway is choking Dhaka’s future

Relocating training operations to purpose-built facilities beyond Dhaka would be an advance towards a capital worthy of our aspirations. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

The acrid smoke has cleared from the Milestone School atrocity, leaving behind thirty-five coffins and a city's collective conscience forever scarred. As we scrub soot from classroom walls and bloodstains from textbooks, a fundamental question hangs heavy in our polluted air: why must children learn beneath the shadow of ageing fighter jets in a megacity of 2.3 crore souls? The answer lies partially in Tejgaon—a 300-acre paradox in Dhaka's heart where an "active" airport stands frozen in time, its silent runway strangling our city's future while mocking our collective wisdom.

This ghost airport haunts our children with institutional paralysis. Born as a British World War II airstrip in 1941, Tejgaon served as Bangladesh's primary international airport until 1981, when operations shifted to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA). Since then, it has existed as "BAF Base Bashar," a military facility with zero commercial flights. Yet, in 2011, the CAAB and relevant authorities quietly re-designated it as a "domestic airport," defying international aviation standards while enabling real obstruction. This dormant status blocked a critical metro rail route along Bijoy Sarani, forcing costly realignment near parliament, a telling metaphor for how phantom airfields derail progress.

While Tejgaon's runway gathers dust, Dhaka's skies grow more lethal. Since 2011, the CAAB has identified at least 525 illegal high-rises encroaching on approach paths at HSIA and the old Tejgaon Airport runway, violations reported to RAJUK for over a decade without a single demolition. This regulatory surrender has transformed our airspace into a game of Russian roulette. Aviation safety data confirms that at least 80 percent of accidents occur within the first three minutes of takeoff or in the last eight minutes before landing, where clearance margins are sacred. The Milestone crash, while officially attributed to pilot error (pending investigation), unfolded in a cityscape where illegal construction systematically eroded safety buffers. When ageing aircraft and vertical sprawl collide above schools, tragedy isn't accidental; it's engineered by neglect.

Consider the cruel arithmetic of our urban crisis: according to a 2018 media report, Dhaka just had 0.7 acres of open place for every 1000 residents. This is a mere fraction of the green space recommended by the World Health Organization, which is nine square metre per person, approximately 2.2 acres for every 1000 residents. Around 84 percent residents of the capital's city corporation area have no access to playground facilities, while citizens breathe air laced with particulate matter at over 15 times the WHO safety limits. Against this suffocating reality, Tejgaon's 300 acres represent a life-saving transfusion. Converted into public commons—not commercial real estate—it could absorb tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, provide play space for half a million children, and create a vital green corridor in our concrete heart.

Global cities have shown the way forward. Hong Kong closed its iconic Kai Tak Airport in 1998, replacing it with Chek Lap Kok 34km away—the former runway now blooms with community gardens. Istanbul relocated from Atatürk Airport to a safer facility 40km outside the city in 2019, freeing 1,500 hectares for urban renewal. Osaka built Kansai Airport offshore in 1994, eliminating urban overflights entirely. Yet, Dhaka tolerates the surreal spectacle of fighter jets practising manoeuvres over Gulshan while planners whisper about distant "aerotropolises." This isn't urban planning; it's institutional surrender disguised as strategy.

While we recognise Tejgaon's symbolic heritage, we must remember that true strength lies in adaptive leadership. The Bangladesh Armed Forces embody the strategic foresight our city desperately needs—the very logic that would never permit an active airfield in a dense urban centre. Relocating training operations to purpose-built facilities beyond Dhaka wouldn't be retreat; it would be an advance towards a capital worthy of our aspirations.

Besides, the Milestone children weren't martyrs to progress; they were casualties of inertia. Every day, Tejgaon remains unfollowed, costing Dhaka $8.7 million in lost economic opportunity while denying generations clean air and play space. We've mastered disaster response, the floral tributes, and compensation cheques, but failed at prevention. True honour lies in sparing future classrooms from becoming crash sites.

Imagine dew glistening on wild grasses where tarmac once baked. Grandparents practising tai chi beneath canopies of neem and kadam. Teenagers playing cricket where fighter jets idled. Children sketching clouds unobscured by exhaust. This vision isn't utopian; it's achievable if we trade complacency for courage.

The Milestone children won't play in this park. But we owe them this legacy—a city where classrooms aren't crash zones, where the only shadows over schools come from clouds, not ageing jets; where our planning finally looks upward, not in fear, but in hope. Three hundred acres of redemption await beneath the silent runway. All we need is the will to breathe.

Zakir Kibria is a Bangladeshi writer, policy analyst and entrepreneur based in Kathmandu.​

 

[Saif]

CA thanks British medical team for support after Milestone tragedy

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday thanked British physicians for their timely response to treat the critically injured patients following the plane crash on the compound of Milestone School and College last month. The British government sent a nine-member medical team to Dhaka to t

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

CA thanks British medical team for support after Milestone tragedy

FE ONLINE REPORT
Published :
Aug 19, 2025 20:27
Updated :
Aug 19, 2025 20:27

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday thanked British physicians for their timely response to treat the critically injured patients following the plane crash on the compound of Milestone School and College last month.

The British government sent a nine-member medical team to Dhaka to treat the burnt patient following the tragic accident, said a spokesperson of the CA Office.

The team, which arrived in Dhaka on August 9, is not only treating the injured patient but also helping Bangladesh build its capacity to deal with similar situations in the future.

“Thank you all for your response. It was not easy for us to mobilise everything so fast. We did not have the expertise to handle it, so we were in a kind of a mess,” said the Chief Adviser as the team called on him at the State Guest House Jamuna.

“Seeing your presence even before you touched a patient healed the nation. We are very, very happy that you could come right on time, and on behalf of the whole nation, I want to thank you,” said the Chief Adviser.

Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum, National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery Director Mohammad Nashir Uddin, and British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cooke were among others present on the occasion.

“We do feel the pain of the people of Bangladesh,” said a British doctor as he described the support they were providing to patients and the Bangladesh authorities.

The Chief Adviser said that the visit of British doctors was important in three aspects – providing emergency support, setting the treatment protocol, and helping Bangladesh prepare for the future.

“We would love to know what kind of steps we can take for the future,” said the Chief Adviser, adding that Bangladesh wants to help the staff of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery gain some knowledge from the British team and disseminate the information to others.

The Chief Adviser also emphasised the care of mental health of cured patients and urged the British team to undertake some follow-up measures.

The British medical team is expected to leave Dhaka on August 24. The United Kingdom is the fourth country to send a medical team after Singapore, India and China after the plane crash tragedy on the Milestone school compound on July 21.​

 

[Saif]

Govt offers Tk 2m to deceased’s families, Tk 500,000 to injured ones

The government will provide financial assistance of Tk 2 million (Tk 20 lakh) to the family of each person killed and Tk 500,000 to each injured in the fighter jet crash at Milestone School and College in the capital. Plus, the injured will receive free medical treatment.

en.prothomalo.com

Govt offers Tk 2m to deceased’s families, Tk 500,000 to injured ones

Special Correspondent Dhaka
Published: 11 Dec 2025, 20: 44

A training fighter jet crashed into a two-storey building of the Milestone School and College on 21 July 2025. Sazid Hossain

The government will provide financial assistance of Tk 2 million (Tk 20 lakh) to the family of each person killed and Tk 500,000 to each injured in the fighter jet crash at Milestone School and College in the capital.

Plus, the injured will receive free medical treatment.

The decision was taken today, Thursday, at a meeting of the advisory council chaired by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Later in the afternoon, the chief adviser’s press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, announced the decision at a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.

Describing the accident as a “national tragedy”, the press secretary said that a one-time payment of Tk 2 million (Tk 20 lakh) will be provided to the families of all 36 victims.

Additionally, each injured person will receive a one-time payment of Tk 500,000. Injured individuals will also receive free treatment at government hospitals, for which they will be issued registration cards.

On 21 July, a Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) fighter jet crashed at Milestone School and College in Diabari area of Dhaks’s Uttara. The accident claimed 36 lives, 28 of whom were students. The aircraft’s pilot, Flight Lieutenant Tawkir Islam, was killed as well. Many others were left injured.

The interim government had formed a nine-member inquiry commission to investigate the widely discussed accident. In its report, the commission identified pilot's error during take-off as the cause of the crash.​

 

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