Biman passengers describe 40-hour ordeal at Rome airport

For nearly 40 hours, passengers of a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight were left grappling with inadequate rest, lack of sleep and difficulties accessing medicines and other essentials after their aircraft made an emergency landing in Rome.

The ordeal finally ended today when Flight BG306 landed at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 12:30pm, Biman officials said.

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The Toronto-Dhaka flight, carrying 259 passengers, had departed Toronto Pearson International Airport at 5:18pm local time on Thursday. After around eight hours in the air, the aircraft made an emergency landing at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport at 7:20am local time on Friday after developing a technical fault.

But the technical problem was only the beginning of the passengers’ ordeal.

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Biman flight with 174 stranded Bangladeshis reaches Dhaka from Rome

Passengers alleged that they were kept inside the aircraft for around eight hours on the first day while the air-conditioning was not functioning, leaving several of them unwell.

They were eventually taken to the terminal, but at least 174 passengers were unable to get hotel accommodation and had to remain in lounges and other areas of the airport.

A Biman official in Rome said the airline had been ready to provide hotel accommodation for all passengers, but Italian immigration authorities did not allow at least 170 passengers without the required visas to leave the airport.

The official said only passengers holding Canadian or US passports were able to clear immigration and stay at hotels.

The prolonged wait was particularly difficult for elderly passengers, women, children and families travelling with babies.

Amina Anjum Tonni, a private-sector employee in Dhaka whose parents were among the stranded passengers, told The Daily Star that her father had undergone three bypass surgeries and had been unable to sleep throughout the ordeal.

She also said some passengers travelling with babies had difficulty accessing diapers and baby food.

Md Ohidul Haque, whose mother was among the stranded passengers, wrote on Facebook that elderly passengers, women and children were under severe physical and mental stress during the long wait.

Syed Mahmud Hasan, who identified himself as a passenger on the flight, also wrote on Facebook that around 170 Bangladeshi nationals, including children, elderly passengers and families, remained inside the airport while foreign passport holders were taken to hotels.

Biman, however, said arrangements had been made for passengers inside the airport and that assistance was provided when needed.

Meanwhile, the airline’s efforts to repair the aircraft also took considerable time.

Biman sources said engineers travelling with the flight, along with a contracted engineering team in Rome, initially tried to fix the problem. After repeated attempts failed, Biman sent the necessary spare parts and a two-member engineering team from Dhaka on Saturday.

The aircraft was declared fit to fly after the repair work was completed later that night.

The flight left Rome at around 11:00pm local time on Saturday after engineers repaired the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and finally arrived in Dhaka today.

The national flag carrier has not disclosed the exact nature of the technical fault. It only said that engineers flown in from Dhaka with the required parts repaired the aircraft and made it airworthy.