Colombo - Palaly

On September 12, 1995 at 07:20 AM, Colombo - Palaly experienced a crash involving Antonov AN-32, operated by Sri Lanka Air Force, with the event recorded near Colombo Western Province (<U+0BAE><U+0BC7><U+0BB2><U+0BCD> <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 flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

75 people were known to be on board, 75 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 5, passengers on board: 70, passenger fatalities: 70, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. 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.

Aircraft reference details include registration CR-861, MSN 35 02, year of manufacture 1995.