Sadia Ahmed, a humanities student in college, submitted a fake certificate claiming to have been a science student

Sadia Ahmed, a suspended pilot of Biman Bangladesh Airline, has left Bangladesh after losing her licence on the accusation of certificate fraud amid ongoing investigations against her, claiming to be sick.

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman and Biman Managing Director and CEO Shafiul Azim confirmed receiving an email from her earlier this month that she had left the country. 

In the email, she informed the aviation apex body that she left the country for the time being due to illness.

The commercial pilot licence (CPL) of Biman First Officer Sadia Ahmed was cancelled and CAAB is investigating her for allegedly submitting a fake education certificate. 

Earlier, CAAB decided that Sadia Ahmed will not be able to operate any flight and was grounded. 

According to documents, Sadia Ahmed, a humanities student during her higher secondary education, submitted a fake education certificate claiming to have been a science student. 

CAAB states in its guidelines that commercial pilots must have HSC (science) or equivalent educational qualifications with compulsory physics and mathematics.

According to information received from the Dhaka Education Board, she got second division from the humanities group taking the HSC exams as a student of Shaheed Anwar Girls College.

Discrepancies in recruitment

Discrepancies in Biman's recruitment of five contract pilots raised questions earlier this year about whether some of its officials are taking advantage of the system to make undue profits.

One of the five pilots is Sadia Ahmed (ID number G-51745), wife of Sazid Ahmed, Chief of Technical at Biman. 

Sadia Ahmed was appointed on November 12, 2019, and piloted her first flight the following month. According to the contract letter, her term of one-year service ended on December 9, 2020. 

Sadia Ahmed was appointed on November 12, 2019 and piloted her first flight the following month. According to the contract letter, her term of one-year service ended on December 9, 2020. 

The tenure of the other four pilots ended the same month, and their licences also expired.

However, on February 23, 2021, Biman issued a letter to arrange a long refresher course on the Boeing-737 for the five pilots. The letter was signed by Captain Anis Ahmed, director and chief of training.

Subsequently, the recruitment of the five pilots was approved and they were reappointed in April 2021.

According to the Bangladesh Airline Pilots Association (BAPA), the renewal of contract pilots in such a manner is a violation of service rules. 

A job circular must be issued, and discussions held between BAPA and the aviation authorities before the appointment of any contract pilots.

According to the Labor Law of Bangladesh, a person can be employed on a contract basis for a maximum of one year.

BAPA also questioned the need to appoint contract pilots when 26 permanent pilots were available to operate flights.