Sri Lanka Air Force Commander Air Marshal Udeni Rajapaksa has ordered a full probe into the crash of the MI-17 helicopter in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Thursday and a three-member team is due to travel to that nation to obtain a first-hand report, a senior official said yesterday.
The team will leave Colombo at the very earliest when clearance is provided by the United Nations in New York, Air Force Spokesman, Group Capt Dushan Wijesinghe said.
The helicopter with a five-man crew was on a UN cargo mission when it encountered a violent sandstorm that is frequent in the region, he said.
All five airmen onboard were treated by paramedics who arrived at the scene but none of the injuries was life-threatening, he said.
Prior to the incident, the pilot had not reported any mechanical defect but he had apparently lost control following the storm.
The UN will also hold a separate inquiry into the incident, he said.
At present, there are 100 Security Forces personnel stationed in CAR. In 2017, a Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter was forced to make a hard landing in the same region but there were no casualties.
