Bangladesh receives the first Dornier 228 New Generation aircraft

RUAG Aviation has delivered the first Dornier 228 New Generation aircraft to the Bangladesh navy. The second unit is scheduled to be delivered at the end of this month.

Bangladesh's Dornier 228 NG aircraft will be used for maritime air patrols and rescue missions along that nation's extensive coastline. The aircraft has been fitted with a 360° Telephonics RDR-1700B surveillance radar and operator console as well as HF, VHF/UHF and VHF FM radios. Additionally, the aircraft are equipped with a search-and-rescue (SAR) radio direction finder, six observer seats and two bubble windows.

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Bangladesh Navy purchases two modern RUAG Aviation Do 228NG turboprop aircraft

Following customers in Japan, Norway and Germany, the Bangladesh Navy has purchased two modern Do 228NG (New Generation) turboprop aircraft. The aircraft will be used for maritime air patrol and rescue mission along the countries’ coastline.

The two Do 228NGs are the first fixed wing aircraft to be purchased by the Bangladesh Navy for patrolling its coast line. For this purpose, both aircraft are being equipped with special equipment for maritime air patrol operations. This includes radio and navigation aid and other selected systems as well as rescue equipment.

Cost-effectiveness and ease of use seal the decision in Do 228NG’s favour
With the Do 228NG, RUAG Aviation has asserted itself against the competition. "The cost-effectiveness and, despite its sophisticated technology, ease of use sealed the decision in favour of the Do 228NG," enthuses Alexander Müller, Vice President Military Aviation Germany. In addition to the two aircraft, the contract includes comprehensive pilot and aircraft maintenance training for the Navy ground crew on location. Delivery of both aircraft is scheduled for early summer 2013.

The Do 228NG is a versatile turboprop aircraft. Alongside transporting up to 19 passengers, it can also be configured as a special mission version for various purposes including maritime air patrol. Thanks to the latest sensor technology, the aircraft is ideally suited to detecting oil slicks, controlling borders and fishing, and carrying out environmental research. The Do 228NG is a completely modernized and improved version of the Dornier 228-212, RUAG Aviation carries out final assembly, integration of customer-specific equipment and delivers the aircraft from its Oberpfaffenhofen facilities near Munich (Germany)

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The Most Haunting Photograph from Bangladesh

April 25, 2013. Two victims amid the rubble of a garment factory building collapse in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Many powerful photographs have been made in the aftermath of the devastating collapse of a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. But one photo, by Bangladeshi photographer Taslima Akhter, has emerged as the most heart wrenching, capturing an entire country’s grief in a single image.

Shahidul Alam, Bangladeshi photographer, writer and founder of Pathshala, the South Asian Institute of Photography, said of the photo: “This image, while deeply disturbing, is also hauntingly beautiful. An embrace in death, its tenderness rises above the rubble to touch us where we are most vulnerable. By making it personal, it refuses to let go. This is a photograph that will torment us in our dreams. Quietly it tells us. Never again.”

Akhter writes for LightBox about the photograph, which appears in this week’s TIME International alongside an essay by David Von Drehle.

I have been asked many questions about the photograph of the couple embracing in the aftermath of the collapse. I have tried desperately, but have yet to find any clues about them. I don’t know who they are or what their relationship is with each other.

I spent the entire day the building collapsed on the scene, watching as injured garment workers were being rescued from the rubble. I remember the frightened eyes of relatives — I was exhausted both mentally and physically. Around 2 a.m., I found a couple embracing each other in the rubble. The lower parts of their bodies were buried under the concrete. The blood from the eyes of the man ran like a tear. When I saw the couple, I couldn’t believe it. I felt like I knew them — they felt very close to me. I looked at who they were in their last moments as they stood together and tried to save each other — to save their beloved lives.

Every time I look back to this photo, I feel uncomfortable — it haunts me. It’s as if they are saying to me, we are not a number — not only cheap labor and cheap lives. We are human beings like you. Our life is precious like yours, and our dreams are precious too.

They are witnesses in this cruel history of workers being killed. The death toll is now more than 750. What a harsh situation we are in, where human beings are treated only as numbers.

This photo is haunting me all the time. If the people responsible don’t receive the highest level of punishment, we will see this type of tragedy again. There will be no relief from these horrific feelings. I’ve felt a tremendous pressure and pain over the past two weeks surrounded by dead bodies. As a witness to this cruelty, I feel the urge to share this pain with everyone. That’s why I want this photo to be seen.

Taslima Akhter is a Bangladeshi photographer and activist.

http://lightbox.time.com/