Engine fault forces Air Astra flight back to Dhaka; all 70 passengers safe

An Air Astra flight bound for Chattogram made an emergency landing at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Sunday after developing an engine fault minutes after takeoff.

All 70 passengers on board were safely evacuated, with no injuries reported.

The ATR 72-600 aircraft had departed Dhaka at around 12:00 p.m. but returned within minutes after the pilot detected a problem with one of the engines and decided to make a precautionary landing.

Air Astra Chief Executive Officer Imran Asif said the issue was caused by a faulty engine sensor.

"One of the aircraft's engines developed a problem, so it returned and landed safely. We later arranged another aircraft and transported all 70 passengers to Chattogram," he said.

Asif added that the aircraft has since been repaired and successfully completed a trial flight.