He told reporters, “The reports cannot be completely dismissed and all the incidents cannot be said to be true. We want to bring clarity on this matter. In those matters, there are complaints, the questionable condition will be investigated, what is legal will be done according to the rules.”
The state minister said about the flight operations of the recruits despite the irregularities, “When a complaint comes, an inquiry committee has to be made according to the law to verify its truth. We have a committee to investigate these allegations. Action will be taken as per the recommendations of the committee.
“No one is above the system. There will be an inquiry committee. And action will be taken. But we have not spared anyone.”
According to media reports, some of the recruits could not join the flight operations for even a year after failing to pass that training, and a woman pilot is under investigation for allegedly obtaining employment by forging certificates and other documents.
After the announcement of the appointment discussed in Biman, the press release sent by the general manager of the public relations department of the airline, Tahera Khandkar, said on Thursday, “As the captain and first officer positions of Boeing 777 of Biman Bangladesh Airlines are vacant, eight captains and six first officers have been appointed on contractual basis for five years in 2021. The recruitment circular was published on 23 November. Eight captains and six first officers are conditionally pre-selected from among the applicants as per the organization’s policy.
“Selected pilots will be eligible for pay from the first flight after completing the prescribed training and finally passing. Of these, four captains and one first officer are conducting flights after completing training.”
The notification further said, “Of the remaining pilots, one has resigned, one has not attended training. As the educational certificate of the remaining one is not proper, the aviation authorities have already conducted a preliminary inquiry and on the basis of the inquiry report, the process of taking legal action against him is underway. The remaining six are undergoing training.”
However, the name of the female pilot against whom the investigation is going on has not been mentioned in the notification.
Earlier, the pilots’ organization Bapa wrote to the then managing director of Biman Zahid Hasan on August 25, 2022 regarding this appointment of Biman.
The letter said, “Recently, news has been published in various media about irregularities, corruption and nepotism in the recruitment of aircraft pilots. The appointment is entrusted to the Chief of Air Training (COT). His wife has applied to become a pilot, which is definitely a conflict of interest.