What happened
A military transport mission traveling from Colombo to Jaffna ended in tragedy when the aircraft was intercepted during its approach. The flight was transporting various military personnel along with an assortment of weapons and ammunition at the time of the incident.
As the four-engine aircraft was performing its descent toward Palaly Airport, it was struck by a surface-to-air missile. Following the impact, the plane crashed in the vicinity of Iyakachchi, situated approximately 45 km east of the Jaffna airfield. There were no survivors among the 19 fatalities on board.
Findings
Official investigations concluded that the destruction of the aircraft was the direct result of being shot down by a surface-to-air missile during the landing phase of the flight.