Lionair Flight 602

Last updated

Lionair Flight 602
Gomelavia Antonov An-24RV Dvurekov-1.jpg
An Antonov An-24RV similar to the one involved.
Occurrence
Date29 September 1998
Summary Shot down by a missile fired from a MANPADS
SiteOff the coast of Iranaitivu, Mannar District, Sri Lanka
8°58′N79°53′E / 8.967°N 79.883°E / 8.967; 79.883
Aircraft
Aircraft type Antonov An-24RV
Operator Lionair
Registration EW-46465
Flight origin Kankesanturai Airport, Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Destination Ratmalana Airport, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Occupants55
Passengers48
Crew7
Fatalities55
Survivors0

Lionair Flight 602 was a Lionair Antonov An-24RV which crashed into the sea off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka on 29 September 1998. The aircraft departed Jaffna Airport with 48 passengers and a crew of seven; it disappeared from radar screens ten minutes into the flight. Initial reports indicated that the plane had been shot down by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) using a man-portable surface-to-air missile, which has since been confirmed. All aboard were presumed killed.

Contents

Aircraft and crew

The Antonov AN-24RV was leased from Belarusian company Gomelavia [1] to operate Flight 602. It was captained by Anatoli Matochko and had six other crew including a Sinhalese stewardess. There were 48 passengers, all Tamils, including 17 females and 8 children. [2] [3]

Crash

The aircraft went missing ten minutes after taking off from Jaffna Airport at 13:40 on 29 September 1998 on a scheduled flight to Colombo; [3] all those aboard were presumed killed. [1] The pilot reported depressurisation a short time before contact was lost. [1] Following the downing of Flight LN 602, all civil aviation between Colombo and Jaffna was suspended for many months by the Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Authority. [4]

Pre-crash warnings

Lionair, the main operator of Colombo-Jaffna flights, received a warning letter a month before the incident from the Tamil Eelam Administrative Service, stating that if the airline continued to ignore a prior warning about carrying Sri Lanka Armed Forces personnel, it would be attacked after 14 September. The airline closed its office in Jaffna four days before the incident. [3]

Investigation

In October 2012, the Sri Lankan Navy discovered wreckage which was believed to be the disintegrated parts of the missing Antonov on the sea bed off Iranaitivu Island. Information concerning the crash site was gained from a former LTTE cadre who had left Sri Lanka and was arrested on his return by the Police Terrorist Investigation Department. He confessed to having fired a missile at the aircraft from Iranaitivu Island on the orders of Poththu Amman, a leading member of the LTTE. [2] [5]

The Navy salvaged the first pieces of the wreckage in May 2013, nearly 15 years after the event. [6] Clothing and remains from 22 victims recovered in the salvage operation were put on display in Jaffna for identification in January 2014. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FitsAir</span> Airline of Sri Lanka

FITS Aviation (Pvt) Limited, DBA FitsAir, is a Sri Lankan airline. It operates scheduled passenger services within Sri Lanka, as well as international cargo flights to several cities in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and also operates charter flights to India. The company slogan is Friend In The Skies...

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Tigers</span> Sri Lankan seperatist military unit

The Black Tigers was an elite suicide commando unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant Tamil separatist organization in Sri Lanka.

Ratmalana International Airport, is the secondary international airport serving the city of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. It was the country's first international airport and was the only international airport in Sri Lanka until the inauguration of Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake, in 1967. The airport currently serves several domestic services and is home to several aviation training organisations. A relaxation of rules has recently seen the airport open for international corporate jet operations and charter flights. The airport is located 15 km south of Colombo City.

The Bandaranaike International Airport attack was a suicide raid Black Tigers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 24 July 2001 on the Sri Lanka Air Force base SLAF Katunayake and the adjoining Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake, Sri Lanka. The attack was one of the boldest the LTTE mounted during its war with the Sri Lankan government, and had a profound impact on the country's military, economy, and airline industry.

The expulsion of the Muslims from the Northern province was an act of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Tamil militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization in October 1990. Yogi, the LTTE's political spokesman, stated that this expulsion was carried out in retaliation for atrocities committed against Tamils in the Eastern Province by Muslims, who were seen by the LTTE as collaborators with the Sri Lankan Army. As a consequence, in October 1990, the LTTE forcibly expelled 72,000 strong Muslim population from the Northern Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Poomalai</span> Indian air drop in Sri Lankan Civil War

Operation Poomalai, also known as Eagle Mission 4, was the codename assigned to a mission undertaken by the Indian Air Force for airdropping supplies over the besieged town of Jaffna in Sri Lanka on 4 June 1987 to support the Tamil Tigers during the Sri Lankan Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lionair (Sri Lanka)</span>

Lionair was an airline with its head office in the Asian Aviation Centre in Sri Lanka on the grounds of Ratmalana Airport near Colombo. It was a privately owned charter operator. Its main base was Ratmalana International 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 located in the town of Palaly near Kankesanthurai, 7 nautical miles north of the city of Jaffna. It is at an elevation of 10 m (34 ft) and has one runway designated 05/23 with an asphalt surface measuring 1,400 by 30 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Tigers</span> Air force of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

The Tamil Eelam Air Force or Sky Tigers was the air-wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who used it against the Government of Sri Lanka. They also called themselves the Tamileelam Air Force (TAF). Though the existence of the Sky Tigers had been the subject of speculation for many years, the existence of the wing was only revealed after an attack in March 2007, during Eelam War IV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eelam War IV</span> Conflict between Sri lanka and LTTE separatists

Eelam War IV is the name given to the fourth phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Renewed hostilities began on the 26 July 2006, when Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets bombed several LTTE camps around Mavil Aru anicut. The government's casus belli was that the LTTE had cut off the water supply to surrounding paddy fields in the area. Shutting down the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru on July 21 depriving the water to over 15,000 people - Sinhalese and Muslim settlers under Sri Lankan state-sponsored colonisation schemes in Trincomalee district. They were denied of water for drinking and also cultivating over 30,000 acres of paddy and other crops. The fighting resumed after a four-year ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and LTTE. Continued fighting led to several territorial gains for the Sri Lankan Army, including the capture of Sampur, Vakarai and other parts of the east. The war took on an added dimension when the LTTE Air Tigers bombed Katunayake airbase on March 26, 2007, the first rebel air attack without external assistance in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chandran Rutnam</span> Sri Lankan filmmaker and entrepreneur

Chandran Rutnam is a Sri Lankan filmmaker and entrepreneur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Lanka Flight 512</span> 1986 aircraft bombing

Air Lanka Flight 512 was an Air Lanka flight from London Gatwick Airport via Zurich and Dubai to Colombo and Malé, Maldives. On 3 May 1986, the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar operating the flight was on the ground in Colombo, about to fly on to Malé, when an explosion ripped the aircraft in two, destroying it. The flight carried mainly French, West German, British and Japanese tourists; 21 people were killed on the aircraft, including 3 British, 2 West German, 3 French, 2 Japanese, 2 Maldivian, and 1 Pakistani. 41 people were injured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 suicide air raid on Colombo</span> 2009 terrorist attempt in Sri Lanka

On February 20, 2009, the air wing of the Tamil Tigers separatist militia launched a suicide attack against military locations in and around Colombo, Sri Lanka, using two weaponized light aircraft. It is speculated that the raids were intended to mimic the September 11 attacks, where aircraft were used as flying bombs and crashed directly into their targets. The attackers failed to reach their presumed targets and crashed to the ground after being shot down by the Sri Lanka Air Force, although one of the aircraft struck a government building in Colombo, killing two people, and over 50 people in total were injured in both crashes.

Divisions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam refers to the military, intelligence and overseas divisions the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Most of these divisions were destroyed during the Eelam War IV, and only parts of the intelligence and financing divisions remain overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1995 Sri Lanka Air Force Avro 748 (CR835) shootdown</span>

Sri Lanka Air Force Avro 748 CR835 was shot down on 28 April 1995 by a SA-7 missile fired by the LTTE. The plane, an Avro 748-334 Srs. 2A airliner, was en route to Ratmalana Airport and was shot down soon after take-off from SLAF Palaly. All 51 crew and passengers were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1995 Sri Lanka Air Force Avro 748 (CR834) shootdown</span>

A Sri Lanka Air Force Avro 748-357 Srs.2B SCD airliner was shot down on 29 April 1995 by a SA-7 missile fired by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), while it was on approach to land at SLAF Palaly from Ratmalana Airport. All 52 crew and passengers were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Ceylon Avro 748 4R-ACJ bombing</span> 1978 airline bombing

The Air Ceylon Avro 748 4R-ACJ bombing occurred on 7 September 1978 when an Air Ceylon Hawker Siddeley HS 748 was destroyed in a fire following the explosion of a bomb in the aircraft while parked at Ratmalana Airport, Colombo, Sri Lanka. At the time, the pilot, first officer, and a ground crew worker were aboard; all three escaped unhurt.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Criminal Occurrence description at the Aviation Safety Network . Retrieved on 23 November 2006.
  2. 1 2 3 Nathaniel, Camelia (12 January 2014). "Remains Of Lion Air Victims Displayed". The Sunday Leader. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Shattered dreams behind Lion Air mystery". Sunday Times. 4 October 1998.
  4. ↑ Mehta, Ashok K. (4 April 2000). "More than ever, Eelam seems a reality now". India's Vietnam: The IPKF in Sri Lanka: 10 Years On. Rediff.
  5. ↑ "Sri Lanka Navy salvage wreckage of Lion Air". Ministry of Defense and Urban Development. 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  6. ↑ Rutnam, Easwaran (5 May 2013). "Lionair Flight 602 salvaged". Colombo Gazette.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.