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to Dhaka rather than making an emergency landing at a nearby airport.

The return flight took nearly three hours. Upon arrival in Dhaka, an airport doctor declared the passenger dead, officials said.

Boshra Islam, Biman’s general manager (public relations), said a three-member probe committee, headed by Captain Md Enamul Haque, chief of flight safety, has been formed to investigate the incident.

A Biman pilot, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there has been a recent rise in onboard medical emergencies on the airline, including diversions and passenger deaths.

“When measured against flight volume, the rate of such incidents appears significantly higher than that of comparable international airlines,” he said.

Sources also raised allegations against some ground staff for issuing boarding passes to passengers in poor health and for lapses in pre-boarding medical screening.

Officials, requesting anonymity, said that on multiple occasions ground staff knowingly issued boarding passes to passengers in poor health and, in some cases, failed to properly observe passengers’ physical condition at check-in, raising concerns about compliance with pre-boarding medical screening procedures.

Despite the seriousness of the incident, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) did not initiate an independent investigation.