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Young pilot's last flight remembered 50 years later
Death dive into the sea
By Roger Thiedeman
Fifty years ago, 23-year-old Nihal Seneviratne had everything going for him. An old boy of Royal College, he belonged to a loving family, was the holder of a 'B' (commercial) pilot's licence with 200 flying hours to his credit and on the threshold of being employed as a pilot by an Indian airline.

But on Friday, February 19, 1954, Nihal's world literally crashed. Around 3.45 p.m., he took off from Ratmalana Airport on a solo flight in a de Havilland Chipmunk two-seat, single-engine, trainer aeroplane. It was a flight from which Nihal Seneviratne never returned. A few minutes after it soared aloft, the Chipmunk was seen performing aerobatics off the nearby coast before plunging into the sea. Despite an extensive search, no trace of the Chipmunk or its pilot was ever found, and the exact circumstances of the tragic crash remain a mystery to this day.

That fateful Friday began for Nihal Seneviratne in a much brighter, happier fashion. He had made a date for lunch with his father, Dr. A.C. Seneviratne, D.M.O. of Ragama, who observed that his son was in "exceptionally high spirits". Nihal had also promised his mother to accompany her on a shopping spree in the not-too-distant future. In the early afternoon, Nihal arrived at the Ceylon Air Academy, at Ratmalana Airport, to do some recreational flying. Although a pupil of the Academy and a qualified solo pilot, he had not flown for a few weeks. So, in accordance with usual practice, Seneviratne was sent up with an instructor for a refresher, or check flight, before being permitted to go solo again.

Assigned to Nihal Seneviratne that afternoon was Susantha W. Jayasekera, an experienced instructor (later, as Captain 'Sus' Jayasekera, he became a respected senior pilot with Air Ceylon). Jayasekera and Seneviratne climbed aboard the Chipmunk registered 4R-AAL, - arguably the pride of the Air Academy fleet, and then valued at Rs. 73,000 -and took off. After a few aerial circuits of Ratmalana under 'Sus' Jayasekera's vigilant supervision, Seneviratne was deemed competent to resume solo flight. So, getting out of the cockpit, the instructor authorized his pupil to take off alone. Interestingly, people at the Academy that day also noticed that Nihal seemed "fit as ever and in high spirits".

But when the Chipmunk failed to return within the time allotted, there was cause for concern at the Air Academy. Concern soon gave way to fear when the Wellawatte Police telephoned with a report from a domestic servant named R.T. Piyasena. According to the Police, Piyasena had just seen an airplane stunt-flying over the ocean, then crashing and disappearing beneath the surface of the sea.

An emergency was immediately declared, and a search for the Chipmunk and its pilot was launched. Captain C.H.S. Amarasekera, Commandant of the Ceylon Air Academy, and Stanley Fernando, another instructor, joined the search in the Academy's newly-acquired Hiller UH-12B helicopter. But first they flew to Wellawatte beach where the eyewitness, Piyasena, was still present. It was the intention of Amarasekera and Fernando to take Piyasena with them in the three-seater helicopter, so that he could try pointing out the spot where the Chipmunk had speared into the water. But no amount of persuasion would make Piyasena get into the Hiller. Not a surprising reaction from a youth who had just seen another flying machine dive into a watery grave.

Friday's aerial search lasted only two hours before dusk fell. All there was to show for the pilots' efforts was a large oil slick in the vicinity of the area where Piyasena thought the aircraft had crashed. The next day the quest for the downed Chipmunk resumed, with two Colombo Port Commission (CPC) launches joining in a sweep of the area. Both vessels were commanded by Mr. J. Mearns, harbour foreman and chief diver of the CPC. He took with him a fisherman from Lunawa named G.N.S. Aponsu, who claimed to know the exact spot where the Chipmunk nose-dived into the sea. Curiously, this placed the probable crash site further south of the Wellawatte location first mentioned by Piyasena.

Another diver from the Fort Development Scheme, Mr. C. Jacobs, was also placed on standby, but his services were not required. Sadly, over the next few days a methodical, exhaustive search of sea and coastline between Wellawatte and Lunawa proved fruitless, and it soon became apparent that Nihal Seneviratne had not survived the crash. Therefore, the authorities made the difficult, heartbreaking decision to call off the search.

A Board of Inquiry into the loss of the Chipmunk was convened. It comprised Mr. E.R. (Ron) Godlieb, Chief Aircraft Inspector, Mr. H.M.D. (Maurice) Jansz, Airport Controller, and Capt. C.H.S. Amarasekera. One of their first determinations was that the nearly-new Chipmunk was in airworthy condition, having received routine maintenance up to the time of its final flight. They also questioned several eyewitnesses, including Piyasena and two fire officers from the Airport Fire Brigade. The latter claimed to have seen, from a vantage point at Ratmalana Airport, the Chipmunk doing aerobatic stunts over what they estimated to have been the sea, before it disappeared below the skyline, presumably into the ocean.

Based on evidence gathered, the Board concluded that Nihal Seneviratne had been executing a difficult aerial manoeuvre known as a 'Split-S turn', of which he had limited experience, when he lost control of the Chipmunk and crashed into the water.

A few days after the crash, in the knowledge that Nihal's mortal remains would never be recovered, a memorial service was held outside the Ceylon Air Academy hangar at Ratmalana. Joining the deceased pilot's parents and relatives at the service, which was conducted by Rev. R.C. Luckroft, Vicar of Christ Church, Galle Face, were the Prime Minister of Ceylon, Sir John Kotelawala, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport and Works, Major Montague Jayawickreme, and the Minister of Justice, E.B. Wikramanayake. A large number of Nihal's friends and Air Academy colleagues were also present.

At the conclusion of the 15-minute service, the lost flyer was bade a poignant, fitting farewell. Accompanied by several pilots in Air Academy airplanes, the Hiller helicopter that had taken part in the vain search lifted off, again piloted by Capt. Amarasekera, with Sir John Kotelawala and Mr. Wikramanayake as his passengers. When the helicopter reached the approximate site of the crash they circled over the spot before Sir John dropped wreaths in final salute to the young pilot whose promising career had been so cruelly cut short. Floral tributes were also dropped by pilots and passengers of the other Air Academy aeroplanes.

Perhaps the most eloquent accolade was paid to Nihal Seneviratne in a poem titled 'Sonnet on the death of a pilot', by Denis Jansz, in a Ceylon newspaper some days later. Jansz's touching tribute concluded: "...Let us not then count the years or months / Or days, that took this friend from us / But always think of him / As some fine silver speck that melts into the blue."

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