The country manager of Gulf Air, the national flag carrier of Bahrain, has been allegedly creating obstacles to an investigation into the death of one of its pilots, who died after falling sick while flying to Bangladesh.
Captain Mohannad Yousef Hassan Al Hindi , a Jordanian-American pilot, died due to the alleged negligence of United Hospital and Gulf Air on December 14, 2022.
The late pilot's sister, US citizen Tala Elhendy Josephano, made the allegations in a press release on Saturday.
She claimed that Gulf Air's Bangladesh country manager Isa Shah has been hampering the investigation into the death of her brother. The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has been investigating case as per the order of a Dhaka CMM court.
Tala Elhendy claimed that Isa Saha, the country manager, is the main witness in the case but is not cooperating, which is creating an obstacle to the progress of the PBI investigation.
According to the sister of the late pilot, justice has been delayed due to withholding important evidence relevant to the negligent death of Mohannad Al Hindi and preventing statements from key witnesses from Gulf Air.
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Terming Isa Shah as a 'key witness' in this case, Tala further said that she came to know that Isa Shah was present in Dhaka for a company event on June 25.
"But why he was unable to meet the PBI, give his statement, and produce other important witnesses is still unclear. As a result, our family is going to take civil and criminal legal action against Isa Shah and Gulf Air in our country of Jordan and international courts of jurisdiction for obstruction of justice," she said.
In the statement, she raised questions about the role of Gulf Air in preventing important witnesses from cooperating with the PBI investigation.
"Apart from this deliberate non-cooperation, they also made false statements to the media. Gulf Air has recently been undergoing final checks by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resume flights to the United States," Tala added.
Besides, they have just completed the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) audit.
"I believe, under such circumstances, Gulf Air does not want to take risk tarnishing their image by admitting their involvement in my brother's murder. To ensure accountability and transparency, we have formally filed a complaint against Gulf Air with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA)," said Tala Elhendy.
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Tala further mentioned that these specialised regulatory bodies oversee aviation standards and operations worldwide, and her family's intention is to inform the FAA and IATA of the alleged mismanagement of Gulf Air, which is the main cause of her pilot brother's death.
"I believe the regulatory agencies will thoroughly investigate these serious allegations," she said.