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A Biman Bangladesh Airlines Boeing 777 flight bound for Jeddah was stranded at Sylhet Osmani International Airport for nearly eight hours on Monday due to a technical fault, leaving 419 Umrah pilgrims facing severe hardship.
Flight BG-235 was scheduled to depart Sylhet at 7:10 pm local time for Jeddah. The aircraft taxied to the runway and was preparing for takeoff when the pilot detected a mechanical problem and returned the plane to the apron. As of the latest reports, the flight had yet to depart, with passengers remaining stranded at the airport.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines’ Sylhet District Manager, Shariful Alam, confirmed the technical issue, saying the aircraft had been grounded while engineers worked to fix the fault.
“We are making every possible effort to resolve the problem,” he said. “Local engineers are already working on the aircraft, and if necessary, additional engineers will be brought in from outside.” However, he was unable to say when the flight would be able to depart.
The prolonged delay caused significant difficulties for the passengers, many of whom are elderly pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah. Airport authorities were also struggling to manage the situation.
By the time this report was filed, Biman had not yet arranged hotel accommodation for the stranded passengers. Airline officials said finding hotel rooms capable of accommodating such a large number of people at short notice had proven difficult, although efforts were continuing.
One of the passengers, Terab Ali Khan from Mathiura village in Beanibazar, questioned the airline’s maintenance procedures.
“If there was a technical fault, why wasn’t it detected before the aircraft was cleared for departure?” he said. “Many elderly passengers have become ill after waiting for hours. Some have swollen legs from remaining seated for so long.”
Several elderly passengers expressed frustration over the uncertainty, saying many had travelled from distant parts of the country and had nowhere to stay late at night. The tense situation reportedly led to heated exchanges between passengers and airport officials.
An airline official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said airport staff were struggling to cope with the growing pressure from passengers.
“It has become extremely difficult to calm the passengers because we cannot provide a definite timeline for when the aircraft will be ready,” the official said.
The Boeing 777 flight had originally been scheduled to fly from Sylhet to Jeddah in approximately five hours and 15 minutes, with an expected arrival in Saudi Arabia later that night. However, the mechanical fault disrupted the journey, leaving hundreds of pilgrims waiting for updates.
