Air Bridge to Jaffna

Propliners Guest Column by Capt. G.A. Fernando

Evacuation flights and a near miss

This story dates from August 1977. It was 13 months before Sri Lanka’s ‘long war’ effectively began with the country’s first experience of aviation terrorism, when a bomb destroyed one of Air Ceylon’s two Hawker Siddeley (Avro) HS 748 aircraft. A landmark election held just a few weeks earlier in July 1977 had propelled the right-wing United National Party to power with a huge majority, reflecting the electorate’s dissatisfaction with…