Palaly - Colombo

On September 29, 1998 at 01:54 PM, Palaly - Colombo experienced a crash involving Antonov AN-24, operated by Lionair, with the event recorded near Iranativu Island 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 scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

55 people were known to be on board, 55 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 7, crew fatalities: 7, passengers on board: 48, passenger fatalities: 48, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is terrorism act, hijacking, sabotage. The aircraft departed Palaly Airport at 1340LT on a schedule flight to Colombo, carrying 48 passengers and seven crew members. While climbing to an altitude of 8,000 feet, the captain contacted ATC and reported a cabin depressurization following an explosion. The aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in the sea some 2 km south of Iranativu Island, 45 km south of Jaffna. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 55 occupants were killed. About 30% of the debris were found in May 2013.

Aircraft reference details include registration EW-46465, MSN 27307901, year of manufacture 1972.