Problem in aircraft door force Dhaka flight to return

Kolkata: A GMG flight to Dhaka had to return to Dum Dum airport minutes after takeoff on Saturday after it started losing cabin pressure due to a problem in the craft's door.
Soon after flight Z5-001 of Bangladeshi private carrier GMG took off at 9 am on Saturday, the 28 passengers and four crew members on board heard a loud bang, which was followed by vibration of the craft. In the cockpit, captain Kamal Pasha scanned the instrument panel and noticed a warning light indicating a problem in the cabin air pressure. Confirming the trouble with the cabin crew, he contacted the air traffic controller and sought priority landing.
On landing, engineers found that the rubber seal on the aircraft's door frame was worn out. "Air was leaking, leading to the problem," said a GMG official. Industry experts said the snag pointed to lack of proper maintenance procedures. "The wear and tear should have been noticed during regular inspection and the rubber seal replaced," he said.
Although GMG procured the Dash 8-300 (Q series) in 2003, the aircraft was manufactured sometime in the late 1990s and has been in use since.
After ascertaining that the short-distance flight could be made despite the snag, the flight took off at 11.30 am and safely landed at Zia International Airport in Dhaka at 12.15 pm. The craft, however, maintained an altitude of 9,000 feet to prevent any problem with air pressure at that altitude.
08/03/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Mar 2009, Foreign May 2008, Safety Mar 2009