It was 11am on the clock. An ABC Airlines flight with 50 passengers and crew was approaching the runway of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA). At that time, the pilot told the control tower that a fire set at the engine on the right side of the aircraft.

Two vehicles of the airport fire department and their ambulance, an Air Force fire engine and their ambulance, a medical team, a Bell-212 model search and rescue helicopter with rescue personnel, a fire service fire engine and an ambulance rushed there.

Twenty injured passengers, including one critically injured, were sent to different hospitals while the other 30 passengers were taken to the airport’s Survivor Reception Centre (SRC).

However, it was not a real accident rather a situation created during the fire drill of HSIA held on Sunday morning. The exercise was a joint initiative of the airport authorities, Air Force, Fire Service, Airport Armed Police Battalion and Jahanara Clinic.

As per the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations, such fire drills are required to be conducted at all international airports every two years.

During the exercise, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman said, “This year ICAO will conduct an audit in Bangladesh. In this audit, they will look at how we carry out such activities in detail. Therefore, today’s exercise was very timely and well presented.”

He said they reviewed their systems and corrected possible mistakes through these drills.

The on-screen commander of the exercise was HSIA Executive Director Group Captain Kamrul Islam.

He said, “The purpose of today’s drill was to check the firefighting system of the aircraft due to an accident at the airport by coordinating between different organisations.”

Air Commodore AFM Atikuzzaman, member of the management and planning committee of CAAB, was present, among others.