It was just a routine flight :

Weather gods behind the crash?

By Dhaneshi Yatawara

He alights from the Y12 light aircraft and as usual starts singing “Till the moon and the sun last we will not die, we will not die” (- Sanda hiru tharu pavathina thuru api merenne ne, api merenne ne) - a famous lyric sung by veteran singer Victor Ratnayake. It was the commercial for Ranaviru Real star series and the TV star was Squadron Leader Wasantha Abeywardane. He was the pilot of the ill-fated Antonov AN-32 aircraft that crashed at Hokandara, Athurugiriya that killed him, the co-pilot and two load masters on the spot and critically injuring another, Leading Aircraftsman Namal Chaturanga.

At the time this edition was going to press, Chathuranga was fighting for his life at the Intensive Care Unit of the Colombo National Hospital. His life is in the balance. Leading Aircraftsman Godakande Kankanamge Namal Chathuranga was the only survivor of the Hokandara Antonov crash.

His condition seems to be on the critical side, according to Dr. Anil Jasinghe, the media quoted. Due to the severity of the wounds his legs need to be amputated from the knee and one of his hands too was amputated from the elbow, in addition to severe burn injuries.

Routine flight

For the crew, this was just a routine flight. For reasons yet to be found the flight crashed at around 6.20 a.m. last Friday killing the pilot, Squadron Leader Abeywardane, Co-pilot Dhanuka Amarathunga, Flight Sergeant Lalith Priyantha, Corporal Amila Nuwan and critically injuring Leading Aircraftsman Namal Chaturanga.The Air Force has appointed a team led by Air Commodore Ravi Jayasinghe to go into the mishap.

Referring to the last communication lines of the crashed aircraft Air Vice Marshal Gagana Bulathsinhala said on Friday that it did not indicate any problem other than a communication on poor visibility and there was no weather warning as such.

“The crew was a well experienced one,” said Air Vice Marshal Bulathsinghala. The Antonov AN-32 was purchased from Russia in 1996. The Air craft has performed more than 11,981 flying hours. In 2013 an overhaul was done in Russia and after the service it had flown more than 286 flying hours. Answering a question at the media briefing held soon after the accident, on the availability of runway lights at Ratmalana Air Vice Marshal Bulathsinghala confirmed that the runway was properly illuminated with runway lights.

“We do night operations from there,” he said. According to Air Vice Marshal Ajantha Silva the entire maintenance of the aircraft is done by the Sri Lanka Air Force. Sri Lankan Government has purchased the aircraft at a cost of US 4.25m dollars in 1996.

It is the life-bound duty of a pilot to avert any possible damage or injuries to civilians even when they know that their lives are in danger. The team led by Sq. Ldr. Abeywardane performed their duty with utmost responsibility.

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Squadron Leader Abeywardane was married two months ago and hails from Kurunegala. “It was his soul wish to be with the Air Force,” said his sister Prabodha. After his Advanced Level he had been reluctant to go for a second try, though he missed by only a few marks. “He applied on his own to the Air Force, collected recommendation letters and so on. Only after he got selected, he informed us,” said the sister with tears welling up in her eyes.

Abeywardane was the middle man in a family of three children and his brother Asela is an engineer. His parents, Karunarathne Abeywardane and mother P. Kondesinghe, were not happy with his decision to join the Air Force but inwardly proud of their son's achievements in his career, though it was short-lived.

His brother was the first to arrive at the crash site even before the Air Force was able to officially inform the family. “I heard the news over the radio and the news alerts and I contacted a few of my brother's friends to confirm that he was on that flight. I live in Malabe and the location was close by so I was there immediately. I still cannot believe what I saw with my own eyes”, he said.