Landing of PM's flight delayed by 20 minutes

The landing of the plane carrying the prime minister home from Saudi Arabia was delayed by around 20 minutes, as metal objects were left abandoned on the runway at the Shahjalal International Airport yesterday.

The landing was put on hold until the objects were removed from the runway and the control tower gave the clearance, Mahbubur Rahman, public relations officer of the civil aviation ministry, told The Daily Star.

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Around 30 minutes before the plane was expected to reach the airport, Special Security Force (SSF) members detected some metal objects on the runway.

When the control tower was notified about it, the officials concerned inspected the runway and removed the objects.

As the aircraft carrying Sheikh Hasina and her entourage reached near the airport and requested the control tower for permission to land, the control tower asked it to delay the landing.

Three committees were formed by Bangladesh Biman, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh and Shahjalal International Airport authorities to probe the incident.