Biman Dreamliner returns to Dhaka after windshield cracks mid-air

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for Dammam, Saudi Arabia, was forced to return to Dhaka after a crack appeared in the cockpit windshield mid-air.

The flight, carrying 285 passengers and 12 crew members, had been en route for about two hours when the captain noticed the crack.

Following safety protocols, Captain Tania Reza made the decision to return to Dhaka. The aircraft landed safely at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Saturday evening.

"The passengers and crew of the flight are all safe," assured Tahera Khandaker, chief communications officer of Biman. 

"After the flight returned on Saturday evening, the passengers were taken to a hotel," she added. "Today (Sunday) these passengers have already reached Dammam on another flight."

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft is currently being repaired in a hangar. Biman officials are investigating the cause of the crack and are in touch with Boeing to determine whether it was a manufacturing defect or caused by something else.

"Cracks in windshields are rare, but we experienced one on a Boeing 787 before," said an official from Biman's Engineering and Materials Management Department, "We are discussing this matter with Boeing to understand the root cause."

This incident marks the third windshield crack on Biman aircraft in the past two years. In February 2022, a Boeing 737's cockpit glass shattered while in Malaysia, forcing an emergency landing.

Later in August, another Dreamliner bound for Doha encountered a similar mid-air windshield crack and returned to Dhaka.