Palaly - Colombo

On April 28, 1995 at 12:00 AM, Palaly - Colombo experienced a crash involving Avro 748, operated by Helitours, with the event recorded near Jaffna (Palaly) Northern Province (<U+0BB5><U+0B9F> <U+0BAE><U+0BBE><U+0B95><U+0BBE><U+0BA3><U+0BAE><U+0BCD>).

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

45 people were known to be on board, 45 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 42, passenger fatalities: 42, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is terrorism act, hijacking, sabotage. After takeoff from Palaly Airport, while climbing, the left engine exploded. The crew declared an emergency and was cleared to return. On short final, the aircraft went out of control and crashed in a huge explosion about 200 metres short of runway. All 45 occupants were killed, among them 40 soldiers and two civilians.

Aircraft reference details include registration 4R-HVB, MSN 1757, year of manufacture 1978.