a day ago
At least 20 dead and more than 170 rescued after Air Force training plane smashed into school in Bangladesh
At least 20 people, mostly students, have been killed and more than 170 rescued after an Air Force training plane smashed into a school in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Airforce training aircraft smashed into a campus in Dhaka, the capital, shortly after takeoff on Monday afternoon where it burst into flames and claimed the life of the pilot.
Another 171 students were rescued with injuries from a smoldering two-story building, officials said, including many with burns who were whisked away in helicopters, motorised rickshaws and the arms of firefighters and parents.
The Chinese-made F-7 BGI training aircraft experienced a 'technical malfunction' moments after takeoff at 1:06pm local time, and the pilot attempted to divert the plane to a less populated area before crashing into the campus of Milestone School and College, according to a statement from the military.
Students said the school's buildings trembled violently, followed by a big explosion that sent them running for safety.
A desperate scene soon unfolded at the crash site, as panicked relatives searched for loved ones. Screams filled the air at a nearby hospital.
Television footage showed fire and smoke billowing from the site of the crash as bystander are seeing trying put out the flames.
Other clips circulating on social media show crowds of students fleeing from the scene in a panic.
The Milestone school is in Dhaka's Uttara neighborhood, which is roughly seven miles drive from the A.K. Khandaker air force base. The school is in a densely populated area near a metro station and numerous shops and homes.
The pilot, Flight Lt. Mohammed Toukir Islam, made 'every effort to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas toward a more sparsely inhabited location,' the military said, adding that it would investigate the cause of the accident.
The government announced a national day of mourning on Tuesday, with flags to fly at half-staff across the country.
At the crash site Monday afternoon, a father sprinted with his daughter cradled in his arms. A mother cried out, having found her younger child, but desperately searched for her older one.
Another father described his feeling of helplessness while waiting to learn the fate of his daughter.
'The plane crashed on the building where my daughter was. My wife called me, but I was praying so I could not pick up,' Jewel, who goes by one name, said at the scene. 'When I came here I saw there was a huge fire. There was a dead body of a child.'
Luckily, his daughter was safe, he said, but he saw many other children suffering from burns.
Students also scrambled to see what had happened. 'We fought with the crowd and the soldiers to get close to the crash site in our school,' said Estiak Elahi Khan, who is in the 11th grade. 'What I saw I can't describe that... that's terrible.'
Doctors at Uttara Adhunik Hospital said more than 60 students, many between the ages of 12 and 16, were transferred to a special hospital for burn victims.
Bangladesh's fire service and security personnel conduct a search and rescue operation after an Air Force training jet crashed into a school in Dhaka on July 21
A truck arrives after an air force training aircraft crashed into Milestone College campus, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 21 July 2025
By Monday evening, rescuers continued to scour the debris, searching for bodies. A crane was being used to remove debris.
Bangladesh's interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, also pledged an investigation, and he expressed his deep sorrow over the 'heartbreaking accident.' He called it 'a moment of deep national grief.'
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed shock and sadness. 'Our hearts go out to the bereaved families,' Modi said in a post on X.
'India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh and is ready to extend all possible support and assistance.'
Rafiqa Taha, a student who was not present at the time of the crash, said by phone that the school, with some 2,000 students, offers classes from elementary grades through high school.
'I was terrified watching videos on TV,' the 16-year-old said. 'My God! It's my school.'
It is the deadliest plane crash in the Bangladeshi capital in recent memory. In 2008, another F-7 training jet crashed outside Dhaka, killing its pilot, who had ejected after he discovered a technical problem.
The incident comes a little over a month after an Air India plane crashed on top of a medical college hostel in neighbouring India's Ahmedabad city, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, marking the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.
A preliminary report into the crash found that fuel switches for the engines of the doomed Boeing 787 Dreamliner began to lose thrust and sink down moments after setting of to London from the Indian city on June 12.
In the flight's final moments, one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel.
'The other pilot responded that he did not do so,' the report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said.
It did not identify which remarks were made by the flight's captain and which by the first officer, nor which pilot immediately transmitted the distress call: 'Thrust not achieved... falling... Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!'
Seconds later the jet began losing height and exploded into a fireball after smashing into a hostel on the ground in Gujarat, claiming the lives of all but one passenger on board and 19 people on the ground.
Investigators' early assessments indicate no apparent fault with the Boeing or its engines, suggesting that Boeing and engine maker GE had no apparent responsibility for the accident.
But the report does not say how the switch - which is used to start or shut down the engines and are typically left on during flight - could have flipped to the cutoff position.
'Did they move on their own or did they move because of the pilots?' he asked. 'And if they were moved because of a pilot, why?'
The report said the jet was carrying 54,200kg of fuel, which was within the 'allowable limits'.
'The aircraft achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 Knots IAS at about 08:08:42 UTC and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec,' the report said.
'The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off.
A helicopter hovers over security personnel making way for an ambulance carrying an injured victim after an Air Force training jet crashed into a school in Dhaka on July 21, 2025
Referring to data recovered from the plane's two Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFR), it continues: 'As per the EAFR, the Engine 1 fuel cutoff switch transitioned from CUTOFF to RUN at about 08:08:52 UTC. The APU Inlet Door began opening at about 08:08:54 UTC, consistent with the APU Auto Start logic.
Thereafter at 08:08:56 UTC the Engine 2 fuel cutoff switch also transitions from CUTOFF to RUN.
'When fuel control switches are moved from CUTOFF to RUN while the aircraft is inflight, each engine's full authority dual engine control (FADEC) automatically manages a relight and thrust recovery sequence of ignition and fuel introduction.
