Air Commodore Shirantha Goonetileke RWP, RSP, SLAF (? - 29 April 1995 ) was a Sri Lankan aviator and the most senior Air Force officer to be killed in action. He was the youngest son of

Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...

Harry Goonatilake Air Chief Marshal W.D. Harry Goonetileke USP, ndc, psc, SLAF (November 27, 1929 – April 11, 2008) was the fifth Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force from November 1, 1976 to April 30, 1981. Early life Born 27 November 1929, as the only s ...

the 5th Commander of the Air Force and the brother of the 12th Commander of the Air Force, Marshal of the Air Force

Roshan Goonetileke Marshal of the Sri Lanka Air Force W. D. M. J. Roshan Goonetileke, RWP and bar, VSV, USP, PhD (Hon), FIM (SL), ndc, psc is a senior officer of the Sri Lanka Air Force. The current Governor of the Western Province, Goonetileke had served a ...

Early life

Shirantha Goonetileke completed his education at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

and then he follow the footsteps of his father and elder brother to join the Sri Lanka Air Force.

SLAF career and death

In the 1980s Goonetileke took to flying SIAI Marchetti SF.260 as ground attack roles and gained the rank of

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

and led the ''Red formation'' during the famed

Operation Eagle Operation Eagle () was an Egyptian military campaign in the Sinai Peninsula, that was launched in August 2011 to confront the Sinai insurgency. The campaign was aimed against Islamist insurgents, who had been attacking the Egyptian security ...

in 1990. On 27 April 1995, an

Avro 748 __NOTOC__ Year 748 ( DCCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 748 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calenda ...

crashed soon after taking off from

SLAF Palaly Palali or Palaly may refer to : * Palali, Gujarat, a village on Saurashtra peninsula, Gujarat, western India * Palali State, a former princely state with seat in the above town * Palaly, Sri Lanka, a Sri Lankan town with ** Palaly Military Ba ...

killing all on-board which included Wing Commander Roger Weerasinghe, SLAF Northern Zonal Commander and several wounded soldiers. Initially suspecting mechanical fault, the air force commander Air Marshal

Oliver Ranasinghe Air Chief Marshal Oliver Matthew Ranasinghe, RWP, VSV, USP, ndc, psc was the 9th Commander of the Sri Lankan Air Force. Educated at Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya Ranasinghe joined the Royal Ceylon Air Force on 7 February 1968 as a Ser ...

dispatched a senior team of investigators to SLAF Palaly. On the morning of 29 April 1995, Wing Commander Shirantha Goonatilake piloted another Avro 748 carrying 52 armed forces personnel, including the crash investigation team Wing Commander D. S. Wickremesinghe, Wing Commander S. Pathirana and Wing Commander Kamal Welgama into approach of SLAF Palaly to land when he was attacked by the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

with a MANPADS. His last words over the radio were "A missile is coming my way", giving the Air Force the first indication that the LTTE were using SAMs.Harry Goonetilake, a true patriot
Daily News.lk - November 25, 2006 He was the Commanding Officer of No. 1 Flying Training Wing at

Ratmalana Ratmalana is a suburb in Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is inside the administration boundary of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council. Ratmalana is situated 14.6 km south of Colombo city centre. Ratmalana Airport locat ...

at the time of his death.

References

External links

Fallen HeroesHeroes who made the supreme sacrificeOfficial Website of Sri Lanka Air Force
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goonetileke, Shirantha Year of birth missing 1995 deaths Sri Lanka Air Force air commodores Goonetileke Shirantha Goonatilake Shirantha Sri Lanka Air Force Academy graduates Aviators killed by being shot down Sri Lankan military personnel killed in action Sinhalese military personnel