What did pilot Tawkir do exactly before his jet crashed in Uttara

Flight Lieutenant Tawkir Islam’s mission was one of the sorts where he was supposed to fly for a maximum of 15 to 20 minutes over the runway. It was a short mission, as this was his first solo flight.

Earlier in the morning, he had already completed a check ride. He had already completed a mission that day, supervised by his commanding officer. That was like a test. Once Tawkir was assessed and deemed fit, only then he was cleared for the solo mission.

Now, what does the commanding officer typically do during such a flight? There’s a mobile hut or van-like setup located next to the Air Traffic Control tower beside the take-off site, and a pilot is always there equipped with the same radio communication equipment.

During such important missions, the commanding officer himself goes to the hut, and in this case the commanding officer was present there. The commanding officer has a radio on hand and is able to hear everything in the cockpit and can communicate if necessary.

So, Tawkir took off as planned. This type of mission is conducted within visual range so he was visible the entire time. His commanding officer himself kept eyes on him. The air traffic controller also monitored him. The controller might not be a pilot, but the commanding officer is. The commanding officer was the one who cleared him for the flight.

He saw everything was in order and there were no issues with the flying. Tawkir completed the first circuit, then a second. Then he was supposed to complete a third circuit and go for landing, that’s it.

At that moment, during the third circuit, the commanding officer noticed something unusual while Tawkir was flying in from the direction of Uttara or Tongi. He had taken off towards the direction of Nikunja and was now returning from the opposite direction. He was not supposed to land yet, was supposed to continue flying.

When Tawkir was still three to four kilometres away, the commanding officer was looking and it appeared that Tawkir might to be losing altitude. He can see it clearly through the binoculars. The aircraft was already flying low at an altitude of 1,500 feet at a speed that takes ten seconds to cover a kilometer in distance. That is not at all fast for us pilots for we fly even at supersonic speeds.

So, Tawkir was approaching at a speed more towards the slower side, and the commanding officer could see that the aircraft was gradually descending. But it wasn’t supposed to descend, it was meant to maintain a steady altitude.

That’s when the Commanding Officer radioed Tawkir, saying, “Check your height.” To that, he responded saying “Roger”, the usual reply for pilots that means ‘copied’.

The officer initially assumed that perhaps Tawkir had descended unintentionally. He just may have dropped to 1,200 or 1,300 feet from 1,500 feet. But then he noticed the aircraft wasn’t ascending back up, rather it continued descending. At that point, he realised the aircraft was coming down dangerously fast.

The commanding officer then said, “Eject, eject,” twice giving Tawkir the command to eject. Every military aircraft is equipped with an ejection seat, allowing a pilot to escape instantly if needed, and it takes just one second for the pilot to get out.

Our training as pilots teaches us that a pilot should only eject when they feel they can no longer land the aircraft safely. When an aircraft is headed for destruction or the pilot’s life is at risk, the action the pilot goes for at that moment is ejection.

So, when the commanding officer saw the aircraft descending in a dangerous manner, he gave the final command himself saying, “Eject!” He said it twice. But there was no response from Tawkir.

That likely means the pilot was fully focused on trying to regain control of the aircraft, which is not unusual. I’ve experienced such moments myself while trying to control an aircraft under stress.

In that situation, I didn’t respond to radio calls until I regained control of the aircraft. Only after that I replied to the commanding officer’s message. Had I crashed, I wouldn’t have been able to answer and no one would have known what had happened in those critical moments.

So, in my opinion, this tragic crash at the Milestone School and College in Uttara was caused by a mechanical failure. I don’t believe the pilot was at fault here in any way. Many have been saying without proper knowledge, that the aircraft was too old and defective.

But I would argue that the aircraft was fully functional, and the pilot was fit for duty—otherwise, he would never have been cleared for a solo flight. The FT-7 fighter jet was manufactured in China in 2013 so, they are not that old.

Finally, I would say Flight Lieutenant Tawkir tried his best to regain control of the aircraft, but failed. The result was a devastating crash that led to the heartbreaking loss of so many young students. We must accept this tragedy as fate.