• Two SLAF ‘blue helmets’ sustain minor injuries

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) yesterday (14) strongly refuted media reports that a group of Sri Lankan peacekeepers was taken hostage by the Al-Shabaab militant group after a UN helicopter crash-landed in Somalia.

The response came following uncorroborated news reports appearing in the local press and social media citing foreign news reports over the weekend. It is likely that the foreign news report erroneously reported a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter crash-landing in the Central African Republic, confusing it with a different incident which was reported from Somalia. Sri Lanka has not deployed aircraft to Somalia for peacekeeping duties, with current peacekeeping operations based in the Central African Republic (CAR).  

According to the MoD, a SLAF Mi-17 helicopter (SMH 4417) was on a routine cargo flight during a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the CAR on 12 January when it crash-landed at Sam Ouandja during the landing phase due to rotor brownout (RWB) resulting from extreme dusty and sandy conditions. The helicopter was on a cargo transport mission, and had flown 140 nautical miles northeast of Bria in the CAR when the incident occurred.

“At the time of the incident, five crew members and 1,200 kilogrammes of cargo were on board. Two crew members sustained minor injuries,” the MoD said in a press release, emphasising that the five-member SLAF crew and the helicopter are safe within the Sri Lankan contingent in the CAR.

When contacted, the SLAF stated that they had appointed a panel of investigators to probe the crash of the helicopter and determine the precise cause and extent of the damage.

With the crash of SMH 4417, the SLAF aviation contingent in CAR will only have two serviceable helicopters for its ongoing mission. The SLAF has over 10 Mi-17 helicopter air frames which are kept in storage, awaiting overhaul to return them to operational use.