In a catastrophic air crash on Monday, a Bangladesh Air Force fighter plane crashed into a crowded educational complex in Dhaka, killing at least 19 people—including the pilot—and injuring over 160 others.
The plane that crashed in what is now one of Bangladesh's worst recent air disasters was a Chinese-made F-7 BGI, which crashed just minutes after taking off at 1:06 pm local time.
The plane, a jet, crashed on the campus of Milestone School and College in Uttara, a heavily populated suburb of Dhaka, during school hours. Although the reason for the crash is still being investigated, military officers and emergency responders indicated that eyewitnesses said they heard a huge explosion just before people were running in all directions on the campus.
The doomed plane was an F-7 BGI, one of Bangladesh's aging fleet of fighter jets. The model is an improved version of China's Chengdu F-7, itself based on the Soviet MiG-21.
The Chengdu J-7, built between 1965 and 2013, remains in use as an interceptor by the air forces of various countries, such as China's own People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Although deemed outdated by contemporary aviation, the F-7 continues in use in Bangladesh simply because it is cheap and dependable to use for pilot training and light combat missions.
China had last delivered such aircraft to Bangladesh in 2013, subsequent to which the production line of the model was discontinued.
The F-7/J-7 line has a long service history punctuated by an unsettling number of accidents in the air forces that have operated it. Most of these have been a result of mechanical failure, engine crashes, or pilot error.
In a recent case, a Myanmar Air Force Chengdu J-7 jet crashed for reasons unknown in Pale township of the Sagaing region on June 10. It is unsure whether the aircraft suffered technical malfunction or was shot down by enemy fire from the People's Liberation Army.
In 2022, another J-7 plane crashed in a residential area in Xiangyang, a city in China's Hubei province. The good news is that the pilot was able to eject from the aircraft and landed safely close to a local airport.
Read also| Trump Calls for Release of ‘Credible’ Epstein Documents to the Public
