On 7 September 1978, a

Hawker Siddeley HS 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (formerly Avro HS 748) is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorptio ...

(registered 4R-ACJ) owned by

Air Ceylon Air Ceylon was the former flag carrier airline of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The airline discontinued flights to Europe in early 1978 and finally ceased all local services on 31 August 1979, when it was replaced by Air Lanka. Air Lanka was later ...

was destroyed in a fire following the explosion of a bomb in the aircraft while parked at

Ratmalana Airport Ratmalana International Airport (; ) (officially known as Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana and locally as Ratmalana Airport) , is the secondary international airport serving the city of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. It was the co ...

, Colombo, Sri Lanka. At the time, the pilot, first officer, and a ground crew worker were aboard; all three escaped unhurt.Air Ceylon 1978 bomb incident at the Aviation Safety Network
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Background

The explosion followed shortly after Air Ceylon had stopped most of their foreign flights as it had $6 million in debt due to mismanagement. The aircraft 4R-ACJ was at the time the only usable aircraft of the airline. It was used on the regular flight between Colombo and

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

Incident

On 7 September 1978, the Air Ceylon HS748 landed in Ratmalana Airport following an internal flight from

Jaffna Airport Jaffna International Airport (; ) , formerly known as Palaly Airport and Jaffna Airport, is an international airport serving northern Sri Lanka. It was also a military airbase known as Sri Lanka Air Force Palaly or SLAF Palaly. The airport is loca ...

. A replacement crew - Captain Ronnie Perera and First Officer Ranjit Pedris - boarded the aircraft to ferry it to

Bandaranaike International Airport Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) (commonly known as Colombo International Airport, Colombo–Bandaranaike International Airport, and locally as Katunayake International Airport) (IATA airport code, IATA: CMB, ICAO airport code, ICAO: VC ...

for the next scheduled flight to

Malé Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of , Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city i ...

, capital of the

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

. When they started the pre-flight checklist, Captain Perera found the cabin untidy and ordered it cleaned, delaying take-off. Pedris continued the pre-flight checks while Perera supervised cleaning. Shortly thereafter an explosion rocked the aircraft. Pedris was in the cockpit and exited the aircraft, while Perera and the cleaner exited the aircraft from the rear door. The control tower alerted emergency services which responded, but equipment limitations prevented them from stopping the fire from destroying the aircraft completely. Had the flight not been delayed for cleaning, the bomb would have detonated mid-flight; the delay likely saved many lives. An immediate cordon of the airport was carried out and all passengers on the flight from Jaffna were detained and questioned. Captain Errol Cramer, pilot of the flight from Jaffna to Colombo, had noticed two passengers loitering in the cabin before departing. In the subsequent investigation, two men who had traveled on that flight were arrested, tried and found guilty of placing a bomb under a seat before leaving the aircraft. They were identified as members of the movement that later became the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Lanka Flight UL512 Accidents and incidents involving the Hawker Siddeley HS 748 Airliner bombings Attacks on civilians attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Aviation accidents and incidents in 1978 Improvised explosive device bombings in 1978 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam attacks against airliners Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam attacks in Eelam War I September 1978 in Asia SriLankan Airlines accidents and incidents Terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka in 1978 Improvised explosive device bombings in Sri Lanka Terrorist incidents in Colombo 20th century in Colombo Terrorist attacks on airports in Sri Lanka Explosions in Colombo

Background

Incident

See also

References