A tragedy of our own making: Why are F-7 fighter jets still flying in a populated city like Dhaka?
The crash of an F-7 BGI jet into a school building has sparked outrage and grief — but it also demands a reckoning with Bangladesh’s aviation safety standards, military protocols, and the price of complacency
All hell broke loose on Monday, 21 July as the Bangladesh Air Force's (BAF) F-7 BGI fighter jet crashed into the primary school building inside the Milestone College campus at Diabari in the capital's Uttara. It was a difference of just a few minutes.
The children were waiting for the school bell to ring when an uncanny tragedy robbed them of everything they had — innocence, vitality, and most importantly, lifeforce.
According to a statement issued by the ISPR, the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) F-7 BGI fighter jet had taken off from BAF Base Bir Uttom AK Khandker at 1:06pm on 21 July and crashed due to a technical failure.
From a critical perspective, this statement might seem like a naïve explanation, especially given that a lot of the questions and issues that surfaced immediately after this tragic incident have long been ignored and kept quiet in some instances.
Why are these aging and outdated fighter aircraft still in use in our country? Why is the country conducting the operations of its military and civil aviation in the same airport? Most importantly, why is the training involving these fighter aircraft being conducted from a base within the capital?
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According to a report by Indian media outlet NDTV, the F-7 BGI fighter jet was built by China in the 1960s. Initially, it was developed jointly with the Soviet Union, but when Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, Beijing reverse-engineered the Soviet-made MiG-21 and built its own J-7 (export version of the F-7).
However, China stopped its production back in 2013. Despite the halt of its manufacturing, Bangladesh Air Force is still using these fighter aircraft for training, posing serious security risks to both the trainee pilots and the civilians.
As a result, there have been several accidents involving F-7 BGI fighter jets in Bangladesh in the past decade. In April 2008, an F-7 training fighter jet crashed with its pilot in Paharipara village of Ghatail, Tangail. In June 2015, an F-7 MB 416 fighter jet crashed on the coast of the Bay of Bengal in Chattogram.
In November 2018, an F-7 BGI crashed in Madhupur, Tangail during training. All these accidents claimed the lives of the pilots. And most recently, the F-7 BGI fighter jet has struck again, leading to the deaths of at least 31 innocent lives (as of writing).
The question remains — why is such an outdated fighter aircraft still in operation despite clear signs of risk factors?
Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Dr Mahmud Hussain had ruled out the possibility of such a tragic incident taking place solely because of problems with the aircraft, pointing to other factors such as technical or human error.
He said, "Aircraft come with a particular life cycle. Though China stopped its production, many F-7 aircraft are still in use in China to this day. So, it's not totally reasonable to attribute this accident to an outdated model. Rather we can assume that there might have been some technical errors; human error is also natural in such cases."
However, Hussain thinks that unplanned urbanisation around the airport is a major reason behind such accidents.
"We need to see whether the runaway funnel area is affected by infrastructure. Flying should be done in an uninhabited area as the pilot requires a clear view while taking off and landing from the airport," he said.
"Unfortunately, lots of buildings have been erected around the funnel area, particularly in the Uttara region, without any regard for civil aviation's rules and regulations. It needs to be investigated how these high rises have been built in the Uttara Model Town area," Hussain added.
While unplanned urbanisation may be one reason, the fact remains that if the fighter training aircraft had conducted the operation from a base outside Dhaka, the situation could have been different.
It is not really a standard practice, throughout the world, to allow Air Force training aircraft to operate on the same runway used for commercial aviation.
"If the operations of military and civil aviation need to be continued jointly, then the authorities or countries concerned will have to follow the guideline as stipulated in the 'DOC 10088 – Manual on Civil-Military Cooperation in Air Traffic Management'. This guideline has been formulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and all ICAO members, including Bangladesh, are supposed to follow this guideline. Most of the recommendations stated in this guideline are not followed in Bangladesh," said Imran Asif, Chief Executive Officer of Air Astra and an aviation industry expert with 20 years of experience under his belt.
He additionally stated, "There must be some specific reasons for civil aviation and military training to be operated from the same place. For example — if a country is too small or there are not adequate airports, then a country could allow joint operations. I think this condition is not applicable in the case of Bangladesh.
"Only transport aircraft or military helicopters can operate from the capital as these could be used for civil purposes in times of emergency (rescue operation). But there is no reason for operating fighter aircraft from Dhaka for training or other purposes."
Owing to such violations of standard guidelines, the possibility of a crash increases substantially.
"Because of these fighter aircraft, our air space is becoming unsafe. Our air traffic management has always been very weak. Under such circumstances, it is very natural that the overall safety of our air space becomes compromised. The said aircraft could have crashed into the Dhaka airport as well given our poor air traffic management.
"Experts have been raising this concern for a long time. The government as well as the air force (BAF) can take action in this regard. Now it's time to see whether they take any action or not," Asif further said.
When asked about the way forward to avoid a similar mishap in the future, he emphasised following ICAO guidelines.
"ICAO guidelines could offer the solution. When you follow this guideline, there is no scope for carrying out the operations of fighter planes in Dhaka. Unnecessary traffic movement must be diverted from Dhaka to some other location, taking the safety and security concerns outlined in the ICAO guideline into account," Asif concluded.
Whatever happened cannot be undone. The wails and pains of the parents will linger on. But every tragedy should offer some lessons for those who can take action. The government cannot simply wash its hands of the whole incident; they must take necessary steps and address the inconsistencies.
Md Morshedul Alam Mohabat is a journalist working at The Business Standard.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
