419 Umrah Pilgrims Stranded as Biman Flight Delayed

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying 419 Umrah pilgrims remained stranded at Sylhet Osmani International Airport for nearly eight hours on Monday after a technical fault forced the aircraft to abort take-off preparations.

Flight BG-235, operated by a Boeing 777, was scheduled to depart for Jeddah at 7:10pm. The aircraft had taxied to the runway and was preparing for take-off when the pilot detected a mechanical problem and returned it to the apron. The flight had not departed at the time of reporting.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines' Sylhet District Manager Shariful Alam confirmed the technical issue, saying engineers were working to fix the fault.

"We are making every possible effort to resolve the problem. Local engineers are working on the aircraft, and additional engineers will be brought in if necessary," he said, adding that he could not specify when the flight would depart.

The prolonged delay caused severe hardship for passengers, many of whom were elderly pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.

Biman had not arranged hotel accommodation for the stranded passengers by the time of reporting. Airline officials said finding rooms for such a large number of people at short notice had been challenging, though efforts were underway.

Passenger Terab Ali Khan from 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, adding that several elderly passengers had fallen ill after waiting for hours.

Many passengers expressed frustration over the uncertainty, saying they had travelled from different parts of the country and had nowhere to stay overnight. The situation reportedly led to heated exchanges between passengers and airport officials.

An airline official, requesting anonymity, said staff were struggling to manage the growing pressure from passengers because they could not provide a definite departure time.

The flight was originally scheduled to reach Jeddah after a journey of about five hours and 15 minutes, but the technical fault disrupted the trip, leaving hundreds of pilgrims awaiting further updates.