THE CYCLE OF LIFE
Was this really happening?
Chira and I retreated to a pre-arranged vantage point at BIA and watched as her beacon light came on. It was a sense of strange detachment, something akin to the loss of a loved one. Once adorned with the maginificent Air Lanka and subsequently SriLankan Airlines livery, she now stood at the parking bay in full white, ready to make the final journey. Among my stillness was a pounding heart. We watched as she taxiied on. The strobe lights flashed at the holding point. Then she took off, climbing gracefully while we watched our affiliation come to an abrupt end. 21 years just whizzed past!
Chira watched her soar — another defining airplane of his 50-year flying career. The relationship between him and the Airbus A340 had always been a fascinating one, often mixed with comfort and trust. “The 340 taught me something different to the other 50 types I have flown. After the A320 it was the second ‘state of the art’ airplane that pampered my career” he said with nostalgia.
WHEN AIR LANKA CREATED HISTORY
On the 19th of September 1994, the first Air Lanka Airbus A340 four-engine airliner, s/n MSN 32, CAASL registration 4R-ADA, was at the allocated gate at Toulouse Airport (TLS), France preparing for the inaugural flight to Sri Lanka. In command of the flight was Air Lanka’s Director Flight Operations Capt. Chira Fernando, his First Officer Ravi Thampapillai, and cabin crew professionals Nimal Liyanage, Srilal Perera and Yohan Cumariah taking care of the inflight services.
The aircraft was ready for push back, when Capt Chira alerted the Ground Mechanic that he requires the aircraft to be towed a few feet forward prior to being pushed back. The confused Ground mechanic had to be enlightened that it was a strict astrological requirement as per the Sri Lankan tradition! The poor chap was a tad baffled yet obliged by pushing back the aircraft at the pre-set auspicious time. There was another auspicious time for the arrival and landing. More on that later.
We pushed back from the gate at TLS at 17:53 UTC and flew South of France crossing the Mediterrenian onto Syria, around Israel and across jordan to Saudi arabia. The Iran airspace was a no fly zone during this time. We then continued over Bahrain, the UAE and across the Indian Ocean to Sri Lanka. The direct flight duration was 11 hours, 15 minutes.
The sky was achingly deep blue with cottony puffs of fair-weather cumulus as we approached the Sri Lankan airspace. Since we were due to touch down at an auspicious time,and we were early, we avoided overflying BIA and used the extra time to do some scenic flying over Kandy, Trincomalee, Pidurutalagala, Adams Peak and Ratmalana, which the airbus officials on board enjoyed.
It was a long approach to finals. We touched down at Bandaranaike International Airport at the auspicious time of 1100 hours. We taxiied to the ramp sans any pomp and fanfare. We didn’t even have a water canon! Instead, a few Buddhist monks and other religious dignitaries arrived on board and did their rituals while the pilots continued their shut-down checklists.
The President of Sri Lanka at the time R. Premadasa, the Board of Directors of Air Lanka together with Captain Chira Fernando the airline’s Director of Flight Operations at the time thus propelled the national career to futuristic aviation.
THE CYCLE OF LIFE
The author is an aviatrix, Senior Lecturer in Aviation and OHS Practitioner who blogs her own aviation and other experiences. Having been in the Aviation Industry for the past 30 years, she enjoys sharing her first-hand experiences and adventures with you.
