Editorial

Security

Politics

World

Letters

Sports

Obituaries

Archives

The accident in which an Air Force officer drowned off the Mt Lavinia sea may not have been an accident at all, to go by eye witness accounts corroborated by reliable information.

Contrary to reports that a helicopter hoist cable snapped when a mock rescue operation went awry, it is learnt that the connector device that is fixed to the helicopter for securing the hoist cable may have come off. The weight of the device and the cable may have submerged the officer and drowned him, in perfectly calm seas even though previous news reports were that 'the man had accidentally drowned' when the 'cable snapped over stormy seas.'

But there are many facets that give the lie to the story. The sea was perfectly calm in Mt. Lavinia on that day, the man was wearing a life jacket which means he should have floated anyway, as the life jacket was seen to be intact when his body was found.

The device fixing the cable to the helicopter seems to have come off, drowning the officer, which raises questions of negligence. Reliable accounts of the incident are also that the helicopter which held the cable was not seen over the seas where the officer drowned immediately after the incident.

Did it beat a hasty retreat to avoid responsibility for having the device negligently fixed? Air Force personnel were not immediately available for comment, even though an investigation was ordered. But information received by this newspaper makes the first accounts of the incident look at the very least, dubious.

| News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security |
| Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries | Junior Observer |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.