Wreckage of plane found in the seas off Kalkudah

Marine Archaeologists conducting explorations in the sea off Kalkudah in the eastern province have discovered the wreckage of a plane that crashed into the sea.

Researcher Darshana Jayawardene said that the wreckage was lying in the sea bed at a depth of 42 metres and said that he started the explorations based on an aluminum plate that got entangled in the fishing net.

“I discovered several parts of the wreckage on September 21, 2014, took photos and returned ashore. I was under the impression that it was a Japanese war craft which had been shot down during World War II. A British oil tanker, “British Sergeant” came under Japanese air raid during the war and the officers in the ship shot down three of the six Japanese planes before the ship sank. But I had to change my view when a Japanese scholar Geoge Elipathoru who examined the photos of the wreckage said it was not a Japanese military aircraft. I conducted further research to find that it was a British aircraft that took off from the Minneriya military camp on December 9, 1943 on an assignment of 18 hour spying that had crashed into the sea due to an engine failure. However, the pilot and the crew had landed ashore by dinghies and escaped unhurt,” the researcher said.

Mr. Jayawardene said the wreckage of the plane could be conserved as a tourist attraction.