No US violation of airspace – Aviation Minister [August 10 2011]

Previous reports that US Fighter Jets had violated Sri Lankan airspace were completely false, Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratn said today. He disclosed this in a special statement made to the Parliament today.

Earlier, Sri Lanka Air Force maintained that an intrusion into Sri Lankan Airspace had occurred in the face if another denial by the United States Embassy in Colombo. “We maintain that we saw an aircraft operating within our controlled Airspace,” Air Force Spokesperson Group Captain Andrew Wijesuriya was quoted as saying to local media yesterday.

The earlier statement by the SLAF alleged that the Air Force monitored an area outside its territorial airspace.