News

Air Force shoots down Dayasiri’s claim

Published

3 years ago

2023/08/10

By Rathindra Kuruwita

All aircraft used by the Air Force to train pilots were purchased in either the year 2001 or 2018, Air Force Spokesperson Group Captain Dushan Wijesinghe told The Island, commenting on claims by SLFP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera, alleging that the crashed PT-6 aircraft should have been in an aero museum.

“The aircraft was first manufactured in the late 1950s for the use of the Chinese air force. However, the planes that we use to train pilots were purchased in 2001 and 2018. This is a well-recognised basic pilot training aircraft. Countries like the United States, Australia, and South Africa use the plane for domestic operations including aero-acrobatics and adventure sports,” he said.

Wijesinghe said the aircraft was first purchased by the Air Force in 2001. Ten aircraft were purchased and all of them were manufactured in the year 2000.

“We bought two more in 2009, and they were manufactured in the same year.

We purchased another six in 2018, and they too were manufactured in the same year. We have 18 PT-6 aircraft, and only three have crashed in the last 22 years. These occurred in 2007, 2020, and this week. This is a plane that is widely used across the world. Sri Lankan air force has an aerial acrobatics team called Blue Eagles and they also use PT-6 planes we purchased in 2018,” he said.

The service life of these aircraft is 4000 flying hours, Wijesinghe said. The crashed aircraft had only been used for 857 hours and 22 minutes, he said. The plane was manufactured on 16 May 2018, and Sri Lanka has been using it since 17 October 2018, the Air Force spokesman said. The service life of the aircraft engine is 2,400 flying hours, and it is overhauled every 600 flying hours, he said.

“Even the planes we bought in 2001 have been used only for about 2,800 flying hours. There is no problem with the PT-6 aircraft. We do not buy ancient aircraft. According to government procurement procedures, we don’t even buy used aircraft, everything we buy is brand new,” he said.

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Related Topics:Dayasiri Jayasekara SLFP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera

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Draft Bill for amending the Trust Ordinance

Published

38 seconds ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Based on the observations submitted by the Task Force on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing for Terrorism, approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 18.12.2024 to amend the Trust Ordinance No. 9 of 1917 including amendments proposed by the Financial
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Accordingly, clearance of the Attorney General has been granted for the Trust (Amendment) Draft Bill formulated by the Legal Draftsman.

Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Justice and National Integration
to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and thereby, submit the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.

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Implementing further relief programme to Public sffected by the Middle East conflict situation

Published

14 mins ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Action was taken to provide a fuel relief for the fuel consumers during the months of April, May and June of 2026 to redress by minimizing the impact caused to the day today life of the citizens of this country as well as the entire economy due to the price hike of petroleum fuel in the global market resulting from the war situation in the Middle East.

Government mediation is essential for minimizing the impact on the day to today life of citizens in this country due to that war situation not being ended further. Therefore, it has been planned to redress on the sale price for Auto Diesel and Industrial Diesel for a period of 03 months by the Government to provide relief to the public as well as to maintain the prices at a bearable level to the consumers without escalating the fuel prices in this country compared to the escalation of fuel prices
in the international market.

Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to
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Establishment of a Spectrum Management and Monitoring System and a Quality of Service and Quality of Experience System for the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka

Published

31 mins ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Approval was granted at the Cabinet meeting held on 2025-10-21 for the Ministry of Digital Economy and the Department of External Resources to work with the Asian Development Bank as an international development partner for the “Digital Transformation Development Project”.

As a main implementing agency of that project, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) requires a Spectrum Management and Monitoring System as well as a System for Quality of Service and Quality
of Experience). It has been identified that the external funding estimate for this requirement has been identified as USD 9.25 million.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Digital Economy to obtain a “Spectrum Management and Monitoring System” and a “System for Quality of Service and Quality of Experience” for the TRCSL under the ADB-funded Digital Transformation Development Project.