Sri Lanka

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Colombo - Palaly

MSN:

35 03

YOM:

1995

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While on approach to Papaly Airport, the captain contacted ATC and requested that the approach lights intensity should be increased. Shortly later, the twin engine aircraft went out of control and crashed in the sea few km short of runway. All 63 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

It is believed that the aircraft was shot down by a shell fired by soldiers from the 'Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam'.

Crash of a Shaanxi Y-8 off Palaly: 5 killed

Date & Time: Nov 18, 1995

Type of aircraft:

Shaanxi Y-8

Operator:

Registration:

CR-871

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Colombo - Palaly

MSN:

06 08 01

YOM:

1988

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft was approaching Palaly AFB in Jaffna following a flight from Colombo, carrying six crew members and supply equipments. On final, the aircraft was shot down by a 20 mm shell and crashed in the sea about 3 km offshore. A crew member was rescued while five other occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

Shot down by a shell fired by soldiers from the 'Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam'.

Crash of an Antonov AN-32B off Colombo: 75 killed

Date & Time: Sep 12, 1995 at 0720 LT

Type of aircraft:

Antonov AN-32

Operator:

Registration:

CR-861

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Colombo - Palaly

MSN:

35 02

YOM:

1995

Location:

Colombo

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft departed Colombo-Ratmalana Airport on a flight to the Palaly AFB (Jaffna), carrying 70 soldiers and five crew members. Few minutes after takeoff, the crew declared an emergency and reported technical problems with the instruments. After being cleared to return, the pilot-in-command initiated a turn at an altitude of 8,000 feet when the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in the sea about 40 km north-northwest of Ratmalana Airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 75 occupants were killed. It was reported that weather conditions at the time of the accident were poor with thunderstorm activity.

Crash of an Avro 748-357-2B in Palaly: 52 killed

Date & Time: Apr 29, 1995 at 0845 LT

Type of aircraft:

Avro 748

Operator:

Registration:

4R-HVA

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Anuradhapura - Palaly

MSN:

1768

YOM:

1979

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft was completing a flight from Anuradhapura to Jaffna-Palaly Airport on behalf of the Sri Lanka Air Force. On final approach, at an altitude of 3,000 feet, the aircraft was shot down by a surface-to-air missile and crashed in a huge explosion. All 52 occupants were killed, among them 44 soldiers, two policemen, three journalists and three crew members.

Probable cause:

Shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired by Tamil separatists.

Crash of an Avro 748-334-2A in Jaffna: 45 killed

Date & Time: Apr 28, 1995

Type of aircraft:

Avro 748

Operator:

Registration:

4R-HVB

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Palaly - Colombo

MSN:

1757

YOM:

1978

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

After takeoff from Palaly Airport, while climbing, the left engine exploded. The crew declared an emergency and was cleared to return. On short final, the aircraft went out of control and crashed in a huge explosion about 200 metres short of runway. All 45 occupants were killed, among them 40 soldiers and two civilians.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the left engine exploded during climbout after being hit by a surface-to-air missile shot by Tamil separatists.

Crash of a Shaanxi Y-8 in Iyakachchi: 19 killed

Date & Time: Jul 5, 1992 at 1700 LT

Type of aircraft:

Shaanxi Y-8

Operator:

Registration:

CR-872

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Colombo - Jaffna

MSN:

06 08 04

YOM:

1988

Location:

Iyakachchi

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft departed Colombo on a flight to Jaffna, carrying military personnels, weapons and ammunition. While descending to Jaffna (Palaly) Airport, the four engine aircraft was shot down by a surface-to-air missile and crashed near Iyakachchi, about 45 km east of Jaffna Airport. All 19 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

Shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

Ground explosion of a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 100 in Colombo: 16 killed

Date & Time: May 3, 1986 at 0905 LT

Type of aircraft:

Lockheed L-1011 TriStar

Operator:

Registration:

4R-ULD

Flight Phase:

Parking

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

London - Zurich - Dubai - Colombo - Male

MSN:

193P-1061

YOM:

1974

Flight number:

UL512

Location:

Colombo-Bandaranaike

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

128

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

28915

Aircraft flight cycles:

16666

Circumstances:

While parked at Colombo-Bandaranaike Airport, the aircraft was preparing for the last leg to Male. Ground personnel was still servicing the aircraft with fuel and catering and about 150 people were on board when an explosion occurred in the rear part of the cabin. The aircraft was cut in two and partially destroyed by fire. 46 people were injured, 88 were unhurt and 16 passengers were killed.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the explosion was the consequence of a bomb placed on board by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Crash of a Douglas DC-8-63CF in Colombo: 183 killed

Date & Time: Nov 15, 1978 at 2330 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-8

Operator:

Registration:

TF-FLA

Flight Phase:

Charter/Taxi (Non Scheduled Revenue Flight)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Jeddah - Colombo - Surabaya

MSN:

46020/415

YOM:

1968

Flight number:

LL001

Location:

Colombo-Bandaranaike

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

249

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

183

Circumstances:

The four engine airplane was chartered by Garuda Indonesia Airways to fly back to Surabaya 249 Indonesian pilgrims who were returning home following a 'haj' in Mecca. Following an uneventful flight, the crew was cleared to descend from FL330 to FL220 then was informed that runway 04 was in use. The captain requested a runway 22 landing and was cleared for. On final approach by night, while at an altitude of 650 feet, the crew was cleared to land on runway 22, a clearance that was acknowledged by the crew. Few seconds later, the approach controller realized that the aircraft was too low and tried to contact the crew. Unfortunately, this was not possible as the crew already switched to the tower frequency. On short final, the airplane struck tree tops and crashed in a huge explosion in a coconut grove located 2,1 km short of runway 22 threshold. 79 occupants were rescued while 183 others were killed, among them eight crew members. The aircraft was totally destroyed by a post crash fire.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the accident was the consequence of the combination of the following factors:
- The flight crew's failure to conform to the laid down approach procedures,
- The crew failed to check and utilize all instruments available for altitude and descent rate awareness,
- The copilot failed to provide the captain with the required altitude and sink rate call-outs at the various levels,
- The captain failed to initiate a missed approach procedure at the appropriate height when the runway was not in sight,
- The sink rate was very excessive during most part of the descent,
- There is a possibility that the radio altimeter bug on the captain's panel had been erroneously set at 150' which resulted in the captain being deprived of the warning light of the altimeter and of the audiovisual warnings of the GPWS as the break-off altitude of 250' which he had intended to set,
- Contributing to the accident was the fact that there was a down draught of the wind which probably rendered recovery more difficult when the captain realized that the aircraft had descended too low and called for maximum power to overshoot.

Final Report:

Ground explosion of an Avro 748-212-2 in Colombo

Date & Time: Sep 7, 1978

Type of aircraft:

Avro 748

Operator:

Registration:

4R-ACJ

Flight Phase:

Parking

Flight Type:

Positioning

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Colomb - Colombo

MSN:

1571

YOM:

1964

Location:

Colombo-Ratmalana

Country:

Region: