The case related to the incident of an Air Force helicopter crashing into the Maduru Oya reservoir was taken up again before Dehiattakandiya Magistrate Priyantha Halyala yesterday. Six members of the Air Force and Army Special Forces died in the crash.
Giving evidence at the inquest into the deaths of the soldiers, Flight Lieutenant Paulen Jayawardena, who was the chief pilot of the crashed plane, testified before the Dehiattakandiya Magistrate’s Court that the Bell 212 he was piloting lost control of the plane and crashed into the Maduru Oya reservoir within 30 seconds of taking off from the Maduru Oya Army Special Forces camp.
Pilot Paulan Jayawardena further testified that he believes that the helicopter lost control and crashed into the Maduru Oya reservoir through no fault of his own, and that a technical fault in the aircraft may have been the cause.
Dehithatkandiya Magistrate Priyantha Halyala, who ordered the case to be recalled on the 21st of this month, decided to announce the cause of death of the two Air Force personnel and the four Army Special Forces personnel who died in the accident on that day.