Key Milestone crash reforms yet to be implemented
Families of the victims have also expressed disappointment over the slow implementation of the commission's recommendations
ATT Desk Report 
One year after the Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crash at Milestone School and College that claimed 35 lives, many of the key safety reforms recommended by an official investigation remain unimplemented, raising concerns over aviation safety and urban planning around Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Local people throng the Milestone School and College campus as the school building burning in the background after an air force training fighter jet crashed into the school in Dhaka on July 22, 2025. Photo: BSS
The 185-page investigation report identified pilot error as the immediate cause of the July 21, 2025 crash but concluded that the high death toll resulted from a combination of weak regulatory oversight, unsafe building practices, inadequate emergency preparedness and poor land-use planning, according to media reports.
Members of Bangladesh Airforce investigate on the site, after an air force training aircraft crashed into a building belong to Milestone School and College campus, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 22, 2025. Photo: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters
Among its key recommendations were the long-term relocation of schools, hospitals and other high-occupancy facilities from airport approach zones, stricter building regulations around airports, stronger coordination between the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), and relocating military flight training operations outside Dhaka. The commission also proposed establishing a new international airport away from densely populated areas.
Firefighters work to remove the wreckage from a building, after an air force training aircraft crashed into Milestone College campus, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo: Reuters/Stringer
The report found that several buildings on the Milestone campus lacked proper approvals and that the building struck by the aircraft had only one staircase despite accommodating hundreds of students. Fire safety experts told investigators that additional emergency exits could have reduced the number of casualties.
On lookers watch through a damaged window as members of Bangladesh Air Force work at the site, after an air force training aircraft crashed into a building belonging to Milestone School and College, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 22, 2025. Photo : Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters
While CAAB says it has notified RAJUK about buildings violating airport height restrictions and that a joint review is underway, little visible progress has been made in implementing the broader recommendations. Investigators also noted that CAAB had identified hundreds of buildings exceeding airport height limits over the past decade, but enforcement remained limited.
The Milestone School and College burning in flames after an air force training fighter jet crashed into a building belong to Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka on July 21, 2025. Photo: Collected
Meanwhile, Milestone School has reportedly applied for approval to construct another academic building on its Diabari campus, although the proposal is still under review.
The wreckage of the Bangladesh Air Force FT-7 BGI fighter jet lies at the Milestone School and College in Diabari, Uttara, after the aircraft crashed following a mechanical fault shortly after take-off on Monday, July 21, 2025. Photo: Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune
Families of the victims have also expressed disappointment over the slow implementation of the commission's recommendations, saying stronger action is needed to prevent a similar tragedy in the future.
