A Bangladesh Air Force training jet slammed into a school building in Dhaka on July 21. The aircraft was an FT-7BGI, a Chinese-built variant of the Chengdu J-7. It took off at 1:06 pm local time from BAF Base Bir Uttom A. K. Khandker. Twelve minutes later, it hit the Haider Ali Building at Milestone School and College in Uttara. The pilot was Flight Lieutenant Toukir Islam. It was his first solo flight. He died on impact. The crash killed 31 people. Twenty-nine were children. One was a teacher. At least 165 others were injured. Most suffered burns. Over 60 were hospitalized at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
The jet tore through the school’s ground floor and exited through the opposite wall. Fire erupted instantly. The building housed primary and secondary students. Classes were still in session. Witnesses described seeing children on fire. One teacher, Maherin Chowdhury, pulled out more than 20 students before collapsing. She died later in hospital.
The FT-7BGI was delivered in 2013. It’s the most advanced trainer in Bangladesh’s fleet. It features upgraded radar and three multifunction displays. But it’s still based on the J-7, a design from the 1960s. The aircraft experienced a mechanical failure shortly after takeoff. The control tower instructed the pilot to eject. He couldn’t. Altitude was too low. He tried to steer toward open ground. He missed.
https://x.com/Defres360/status/1947238223362584979
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A Bangladesh Air Force FT-7BGI fighter jet, a Chinese-built variant of the Chengdu J-7 used for training, crashed near Milestone College’s Uttara campus in Dhaka during a routine mission.
The aircraft, bearing tail number 701, resulted in the death of its pilot,… pic.twitter.com/Y38p4DEsoB
— Intel Tower🗽 (@inteltower) July 21, 2025
Nine fire units and six ambulances responded. Border Guard Bangladesh deployed two platoons. A metro coach was used to transport victims. Parents and locals carried children out by hand. Some used rickshaws. Others ran barefoot. The crash site was sealed off within 20 minutes. Military helicopters airlifted the pilot and several victims. The pilot was found alive but died en route to Combined Military Hospital.
The government declared a national day of mourning on July 22. Flags flew at half-staff. Special prayers were held across mosques, temples, and churches. Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus promised a full investigation. A high-level committee was formed. The Air Force blamed a mechanical fault. No further details released.
Students protested the next morning. They demanded a full list of the dead and injured. They accused military personnel of assaulting teachers at the crash site. They called for compensation, decommissioning of outdated aircraft, and a full overhaul of training procedures. Education Adviser Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar visited the campus. He called the demands “logical.” Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said the government would notify the army to take action.
The Higher Secondary Certificate exams scheduled for July 22 and 24 were postponed nationwide. Milestone School remains closed. The building is structurally compromised. Investigators are still collecting debris. Identity cards, shoes, and school bags were recovered from the rubble.
Local voices are raw. Survivors say the fire spread in seconds. Teachers say the building had no fire exits. Parents say they were blocked from entering the site. One father said he found his daughter alive but saw other children with skin torn off. A student said his best friend died in front of him. Another said he saw a teacher run into the fire and collapse.
This was the deadliest aviation disaster in Dhaka in recent memory. The last F-7 crash was in 2008. That pilot ejected and died outside the city. This time, the jet hit a school. The pilot didn’t eject. The children didn’t escape.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Dhaka_fighter_jet_crash
https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/bangladesh-air-force-f7-plane-crash-13910093.html