Video footage has emerged of the training aircraft which crashed in the China Bay Air Force Camp in the Eastern Province today.
According to the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), the two Air Force officers killed in the crash have been identified as a Wing Commander and an Aircraft Engineer/ Flying Officer.
The SLAF stated that Wing Commander Tharindu Herath and Flying Officer Peshan Warnasooriya had embarked on the journey for an air test of a PT 6 aircraft.
The duo departed from the airstrips of China Bay around 11.25 am after which the aircraft had crashed at an area inside the China Bay Camp around 11.27 am.
The SLAF stated that Wing Commander Tharindu Herath who is a student of Maliyadeva Maha Vidyalaya had joined the Air Force in 2006. He is a father of three.
Aircraft Engineer/ Flying Officer Peshan Warnasooriya who is a student of St. Anne’s College, Kurunegala joined the Air Force in 2017 after completing his higher education at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. (NewsWire)
A training aircraft that took off from the airstrips of the Sri Lanka Air Force Academy in China Bay in the Eastern Province crashed killing two persons onboard pic.twitter.com/R1Td5KMeWb
— NewsWire 🇱🇰 (@NewsWireLK) August 7, 2023