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A primary analysis has found that "bearing failure or malfunction" caused the detachment of one of the left wheels of the main landing gear of Biman Bangladesh Airlines' Dash-8 aircraft.
However, the actual cause of the bearing failure in the aircraft would be known after the submission of the probe report, says a press release issued on Monday by the national flag carrier
The state-owned airline has formed two committees to ensure safety and conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.
The Chief of Flight Safety will lead a three-member body which will investigate safety measures, while another three-member body under the Engineering and Material Management Department will investigate main reason of the incident, examine maintenance conditions and records, and give suggestions to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
Biman said that the probe bodies will submit reports within three working days.
The flight of the state-owned airline on Friday last landed safely at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in Dhaka despite losing a wheel from its main landing gear shortly after take-off from Cox's Bazar.
The incident took place moments after flight BG 436 took-off from Cox's Bazar Airport at 1.21 am en route to HSIA.
However, the flight landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 2:20 pm without any incident and all the passengers and crew members of the aircraft were safe.
Biman claimed if any wheel bearing becomes defected it may detach the relevant wheel or tire from the landing gear of the aircraft, as per the manual of the manufacturer company, De Havilland.
Preliminary observation has indicated that "bearing failure or malfunction" caused the detachment of one of the left wheels of the aircraft, said the press release issued by ABM Raoshan Kabir, general manager (Public Relations) of Biman.
The authorities of the national flag carrier later examined all the wheels of the Dash-8 aircraft of its fleet as a cautionary measure.
The authorities have already communicated with the De Havilland, a company of Canada, for sending technical staff immediately and the company also agreed to send a team for technical support.
The Biman authorities have also taken a plan to bring back the aircraft into the passenger transportation.
Ethiopian Airlines is one of the main subscribers of Dash-8 Q-400 model having 31 aircraft in its fleet.
The airline in last three years experienced at least four incidents of wheel detachment, said the press release.
A total of 59 wheel-related incidents took place with the Dash-8 Q-400 model aircraft around the world from 2013 to 2017, said the Biman quoting De Havilland information.
However, Biman described the Dash-8 Q-400 aircraft as "extremely safe".
The airline explained that the landing gear system of the Dash-8 Q-400 includes redundancy. Therefore, if a wheel unexpectedly fails, it does not compromise flight safety, the release added.
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