Western Province (மேல் மாகாணம்)

The approach to Colombo-Ratmalana Airport was completed in marginal weather conditions and low visibility. Too low, the aircraft struck the roof of a house and crashed inverted in a wooded area located in Hokandara, less than 10 km from the runway threshold, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. A crew member was seriously injured while four other occupants were killed. The only survivor died from his injuries six days later, on December 18.

Following an uneventful cargo flight from Dubai, the crew started the descent to Colombo-Bandaranaike Airport by night and good weather conditions, using a GPS and DME systems. After being cleared to descend to FL150, the crew received the QNH and QFE values for Colombo: 1009 mb (hectopascals) and 756 mm Hg. The copilot mistakenly input 765 mm Hg instead of 756 mm Hg in the altimeters. At a distance of 14 km from the airport, the aircraft was 60 metres above the sea. It continued to descend until the undercarriage struck the water surface at a distance of 10,7 km from the runway 04 threshold. The captain decided to initiate a go-around procedure but shortly later, at a height of about 60-90 metres, he continued the approach. Assuming the undercarriage may have been damaged, he decided to carry out a belly landing. The aircraft landed 50 metres to the right of the main runway and 450 metres past its threshold. The aircraft then slid for a distance of 2,230 before coming to rest. All seven occupants escaped uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew departed Colombo-Ratmalana Airport for a local post maintenance test flight as one of the engine has been changed. During climbout, an engine caught fire. The crew was cleared to return for an emergency landing when the engine exploded and separated from the aircraft. Out of control, the airplane crashed in an open field, bursting into flames. All five crew members were killed. It was reported that the engine that caught fire was not the one that has been changed.

The Sky Cabs flight SCB701 originated in Colombo (Bandaranaike International Airport Colombo - hereinafter known as BIA Colombo), Sri Lanka at 1940 hours on 23rd March 2000. It landed in Bangkok, Thailand at 0120 hours on the following day after an uneventful flight. The alternate airport for Bangkok was Rayong/Ban U-Taphao (VTBU). The crew had recent experience in operating AN 12 flights between BIA Colombo and Bangkok International Airport, Thailand. The same flight crew made the return flight back to BIA Colombo after 4 hours and 20 minutes ground time in Bangkok. The crew had received the weather report from Aero Meteorological Division (AMD), prior to departure. An air traffic control flight plan was filed to BIA Colombo, the filed alternate airport was Male International (VRMM) in the Republic of Maldives. The aircraft was refueled adding 6681 kgs of fuel to the remaining 8300 kgs bringing the total fuel onboard to 14981 kg. Flight SCB702, cargo flight, departed Bangkok at 0540 hours on 24th March 2000 to BIA Colombo. The scheduled flight time for Bangkok – BIA Colombo was five hours and twenty minutes with a scheduled time of arrival of 1100 hours (17:00 hours Sri Lanka time). SCB702 made the first radio contact with Sri Lanka air traffic control at 1016 hours. The area controller passed SCB702 the latest weather report effective for BIA Colombo and later, a Sigmet valid at the time. When the control of the flight was handed to the approach radar controller (Director) by the area controller, at 1042 hours SCB 702 was asked to report his radial and DME from Colombo, (i.e. from “DVOR/DME KAT”). SCB702 reported as saying “074 radial and 55 DME ready for descent”, thus the two-way communication was established. Later, the flight SCB702 made two unsuccessful ILS approaches to runway 04. While on a radar heading to get established on the ILS to Runway 22 for a third attempt to land, the aircraft crashed 1.2 N.M. north-northwest of the threshold of Runway 22 (3.2 N.M. north-northeast of the DVOR/DME 'KAT') at BIA Colombo at 1204 hours (or 1804 hours in the evening, local time) on 24th March 2000. Six crew members and three people on the ground were killed.

During the takeoff roll at Colombo-Ratmalana Airport, the captain was ready to start the rotation when he suspected a technical problem and decided to abort the takeoff. At the same time, confusion sets in the cockpit and the copilot inadvertently retracts the landing gear, causing the aircraft to sink on the runway. It slid for few dozen metres and came to rest, bursting into flames. Four passengers were killed.

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.

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.

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.

While parked on apron at Colombo-Ratmalana Airport, the airplane was prepared by a crew of two for a positioning flight to Colombo-Katunayake Airport when an explosion occurred in the middle section. The aircraft was destroyed and both pilots escaped uninjured. Liberation Tigers claimed responsibility for explosion but the real author of the terrorist act was not found.