A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying 387 passengers, mostly Hajj pilgrims and expatriates, was stranded on the runway of Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram for nearly two hours on Saturday (July 5) due to a technical glitch.

Flight BG 138, arriving from Medina, Saudi Arabia, landed at 9:30 am in rainy weather and became stuck while making a U-turn at the end of Runway 23, airport sources said.

The incident forced the temporary closure of the runway, causing delays to at least four flights—one international and three domestic. Salam Air's Muscat-bound flight 402 departed three hours and eight minutes late, while Biman’s domestic flight BG 612 to Dhaka left 47 minutes behind schedule.

Two inbound flights from Dhaka—US-Bangla Airlines BS 105 and Air Astra flight 415—were also delayed.

“The aircraft was safely moved to the apron at 11:20 am after the fault was rectified,” said Engineer Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil, Public Relations Officer of the airport. “The runway remained closed for approximately two hours due to the unexpected situation.”

Flight BG 138 had departed Medina at 11:30 pm local time on Friday and landed in Chattogram the next morning. No injuries were reported, and passengers were safely disembarked following the incident.

Airport operations resumed shortly after the aircraft was cleared, and authorities said efforts are ongoing to avoid such disruptions in the future.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has yet to issue an official statement on the incident.

SMS/