Sri Lanka Air Force Bell-212 Helicopter flies near protest site in Colombo

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The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter that was observed flying at a low altitude over protestors who had converged in massive numbers at the “GotaGoGama” protest site at the Galle Face Green yesterday (13) was an observation flight that was gathering data on the ground situation, said SLAF Spokesman Group Capt. Dushan Wijesinghe.

When The Morning questioned Wijesinghe as to why the SLAF was aerial patrolling the Galle Face protest site at such a low height, he said: “It was a normal observation flight around the City of Colombo in order to obtain information on the ground situation after imposing the curfew.”

He also added that SLAF helicopters are permitted to fly at low heights during emergency situations.

Video footage shared on social media also showed protestors running away from the low-flying chopper which they also accused of having hurled tear gas at the crowds last afternoon, in an attempt to intimidate them.

The claims of the protestors being tear gassed by the SLAF helicopter were refuted by Wijesinghe.

When The Morning also questioned the Spokesman as to whether it is safe to fly low over a crowd, he said: “Only with a high level of piloting skills and experience can the Air Force manoeuvre such an aircraft safely. We fly the same way during search and rescue missions during natural disasters also.”




copied by themorning.lk

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