PM’s flight to Dhaka from Tokyo delayed after technical glitch

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s flight to Dhaka from Tokyo was delayed on Thursday after the Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft developed a technical glitch shortly before takeoff from Narita International Airport.

The aircraft left the airport terminal around 6:18pm local time and moved to the runway for takeoff.

However, it stopped on the runway, and about 15 minutes later, Captain Md Imamul Islam announced that the flight could not proceed due to a technical problem.

He said two engineers were working to resolve the issue and the flight would resume once the problem was fixed. The aircraft was later taken back to the tarmac.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman and other members of his entourage were on board the aircraft. Later, all passengers disembarked from the aircraft.

Around 8pm local time, the captain made another announcement, saying it would take another two and a half hours to fix the technical problem.

The Prime Minister was scheduled to leave Tokyo for Dhaka at 6pm local time, wrapping up his four-day state visit to Japan.

The flight was originally scheduled to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 10:35pm Bangladesh time.

Tarique arrived in Japan on October 26 at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.