Saturday, 13 December 2014 00:00
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The Sri Lanka Air Force said it will begin a special investigation into the crash of the Antonov-32 plane, which plunged into a barren land in the Hokandara area near the capital Colombo yesterday, killing four officers and injuring another.
Chief of Staff of the Air Force Air Vice Marshal Gagan Bulathsinghala said while speaking on national radio that the Commander of the Air Force Air Marshal Kolitha Gunathilaka has appointed a Court of Inquiry headed by Air Commodore Ravi Jayasinghe to investigate the incident.
The Antonov-32, carrying five Air Force personnel to Ratmalana from Katunayake on a routine flight, crashed around 6.20 a.m. last morning in foggy weather.
The captain of the aircraft Squadron Leader J.M.W.M. Abeywardena, co-pilot Flight Lieutenant A.A.D. Taranga Amaratunga, Flight Sergeant M.W.L. Priyantha and Corporal W.W.A.L. Wijerathna were the four people killed in the crash.
The fifth person, L.A.C. Chathuranga survived the crash and is undergoing treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. He has suffered severe burns below the waist, the Director of the Colombo National Hospital Dr. Anil Jasinha said.
Addressing a media briefing held in Colombo, Vice Marshal Bulathsinghala disclosed that the captain, just before the aircraft disappeared from the radar, had communicated to the operations room that visibility was poor in the general area of Ratmalana.
Several houses near the crash site have also been damaged. However no one was hurt on the ground.
Director of Air Control Engineer Air Vice Marshall Ajantha Silva, who joined the media briefing, said the aircraft had been purchased from Ukraine back in 1996. It was repaired in Russia last year.
Air Vice Marshall Ajantha Silva added that subsequently the aircraft had completed 298 flight hours during the last nine years while it had made 447 landings. The captain of the aircraft had also completed the required flight hours and was an experienced pilot.
Further flights of Antonov aircraft have been temporarily suspended the investigations are completed.
Meanwhile, Air Vice Marshal Bulathsinghala requested the public to refrain from visiting the crash site since it can the investigations. Furthermore, he urged the public not to take parts of the aircraft home as mementoes as all of them will be important for the investigations.
Post-mortems of the deceased are now being carried out. The Chief of Staff of the Air Force also said that measures will be taken to look into the possibility of granting compensation for the damages caused to properties surrounding the crash site.
