THUNDERSTORMS OVER MALACCA
JOHN RAJKUMAR VETHAVANAM
Times are changing, the world is changing. More attention is being focused on Sri Lanka’s Aviation History thanks to the advent of social media platforms. Social networking tools have transformed our ability to unearth and bring to light forgotten aviators and neglected histories of our first aviation century. Aviation Enthusiasts want to get to know these great personalities and their incredible achievements which have inspired many of us across generations.
Our story today is one of classic aviation lore.
In an era where people tend to gather all the fame for themselves, three generations of aviators have worked hard to hone their aviation skills and share their expertise with the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals — sans any claim to fame.
JOHN RAJKUMAR VETHAVANAM or “Vetha” as he was popularly known was born in Jaffna and received his education at the prestigious St John’s College Nallur Jaffna. He then proceeded to Trinity College Kandy where he played First Eleven Cricket as an opening bowler.
However, this exceptionally talented sportsman decided one day, to relinquish his abiding interest in cricket and instead, experiment with aviation. Thus, in 1947, with the inception of Air Ceylon, Vetha, who had completed his training in New Delhi, returned to Ceylon to start his life long career with the national airline. A man of repute, this humble son of a District Judge thus qualified as the ‘first’ Ceylonese Radio Officer of Air Ceylon.
THUNDERSTORMS OVER MALACCA
The year was 1948. On 30th May, at 0745 hours the Air Ceylon, Sydney bound DC-3 ‘Sunethra Devi’ lifted off Ratmalana airport with Capt. Peter Fernando as Commander, Punchi Banda Mawalagedara as First Officer, Flight Engineer ‘Bunny’ Molamure, Purser D.L Srimanne and Radio Officer John Vethavanam.
The DC-3 (chartered by a group of Ceylon Naval personnel) had to cover a distance of over 7000 miles at a speed of 190 knots on this history making flight. Incidentally this was also the first non-scheduled flight of any overseas airline to land at an Australian airport other than Darwin.
The unpressurized DC3 flight to Australia, was restricted to a cruising altitude of 10,000 feet and a maximum of 14000 feet if required to fly above clouds. The only mode of navigation was a Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) and dead reckoning (DR) — a method of navigation relying on estimating one’s current track, groundspeed and position based on earlier known positions.
“Sunethra Devi” reached Madras at 1030 hours, took on fuel and departed at 1115 hours on her second sector, a five-hour-plus flight to Calcutta. After a brief layover, the crew and passengers departed Calcutta’s Dum Dum airport at 0310 hours the next day, and reached Rangoon Burma on 31st May at 0725 hours.
The crew then prepared for what would be the longest sector of the trip. At 0910 Sunethra Devi departed Rangoon for Singapore, her fourth sector. However, on reaching the Straits of Malacca, the weather conditions deteriorated unexpectedly with massive thunderstorms and heavy rains. The visibility reduced to zero. Although severe turbulence made the flight controls very sloppy, the crew managed to climb to 17000 feet, and continued flying (while gasping for oxygen).
Then, lightning-induced static began interfering with radio communications and played havoc with the navigation equipment. Lacking reliable information, the pilots lost their bearings and were ‘unsure of position’ and were hopelessly lost. Sunethra Devi was in imminent danger of flying into terrain and was dangerously low on fuel.
“Vetha” who was manning the radios in the flight deck tried tuning various radio stations without success. Finally, he made contact with Singapore who sent up an RAF aircraft to help the distressed crew. Sunethra Devi finally landed safely at Kallang airport Singapore at 1825 after a staggering 9 hours and 20 minutes with just 20 minutes fuel remaining in the tanks!
This flight made headline news in the Singapore newspapers the next day.
Two days later, the crew resumed their journey to Australia via Indonesia touching down at Darwin, on June 3. On June 4th Sunethra Devi set off across the Australian landscape, stopping at the Northern Territory outpost of Daly Waters and then on to Cloncurry and Charleville in Queensland before an overnight stop at Brisbane. Their final destination, Sydney, was reached on June 5 at 1240 hours.
Sunethra Devi commenced her return journey on the night of June 10 with a 36-hour layover in Bali, and a night-stop at Bangkok. At Calcutta’s Dum Dum airport, the crew were compelled to circle for over an hour while waiting for an unserviceable aircraft to be cleared off the runway.
When Sunethra Devi landed back at Ratmalana on the wet and windy afternoon of Thursday, June 17 1948, her crew were hailed as heroes. Their brush with death in the stormy skies over Singapore was now little more than a dim memory. — Roger Thiedeman (Aviation Historian)
John Vethavanam always made it a habit to chat to his family about his flight experiences. Dinner time was when he interacted with his family. It was not just exciting aviation stories, but he also inculcated high moral values in his children which he considered an absolute essential.
Young DULEEP VETHAVANAM, listened in awe whenever his dad related stories of his aviation adventures. “I was absolutely enthralled, and knew beyond a doubt that aviation was the field that I wanted to be in…I followed dad’s example. It was natural for me to follow suit” he said.
The turning point in young Duleep’s life came in June 1980 when he joined Air Lanka and began his flying career on the B737. He then moved on to the L1011 and subsequently was rated on the Airbus A320 series, A330 and A340. Highly influenced by his father, he made headway in aviation and went on to become a Simulator Instructor, An Examiner on the Airbus fleet, and a Flight Operations Inspector for the Civil Aviation Authority Sri Lanka.
Duleep’s son Dinesh Vethavanam is the third-generation aviator of the Vethavanam family. Dinesh in currently rated on the Boeing 777 and B787 and works for Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi UAE.
The three Vethavanams — John, Duleep and Dinesh are unassuming aviators who have contributed much towards enhancement of aviation in Sri Lanka.
