Staff Reporter:
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan yesterday directed Biman Bangladesh Air-lines to make an immediate contact with Boeing as a former engineer of the US aircraft maker recently urged to ground all Boeing 787 model planes fearing manufacturing fault.
He gave the directive over telephone to Shafiul Azim, managing director and CEO of Biman that has four Boeing 787-8 and two 787-9 in its fleet, a press release said.
The minister ruled out any issue of getting panicked as Biman’s Dremliner fleet is relatively new.
“However, we need clarification on the matter through contacting Boeing sooner as Biman‘s main objec-tive is passenger safety,” he told the chief of the state-owned national flag carrier.
Azim assured the minister that Biman is always in contact with Boeing for technical maintenance of its fleet and he would get back to him soon after learning more from the manufacturer on the issue.
Last week, in a television interview with NBC channel, a quality engineer at Boeing Sam Salehpour went public with his concerns about the Boeing 787 and 777 jets and made a warning that the long-haul jets could “fall apart at the joints.”
During the interview, he doubled down on his allegations and called for all Dreamliners to be pulled from service and checked for small gaps in the fuselage.
Boeing held a media tour at its South Carolina manufacturing plant on Monday, where reporters heard from two top Boeing engineers who defended the structural integrity of its aircraft.
Boeing says it is fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner, adding that the claims “are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the air-craft.”