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Shirantha Goonetileke † RWP, RSP | |
|---|---|
| Born | Colombo,Sri Lanka |
| Died | 29 April 1995 Jaffna, Sri Lanka |
| Allegiance |  Sri Lanka |
| Service |  Sri Lanka Air Force |
| Rank |  Air Commodore |
| Unit | No. 1 Flying Training Wing, SLAF |
| Commands | Commanding Officer Flying Training Wing |
| Battles / wars | Sri Lankan Civil War |
| Awards |  Rana Wickrama Padakkama Rana Sura Padakkama |
Air CommodoreShirantha GoonetilekeRWP,RSP,SLAF (? - 29 April 1995 †) was a Sri Lankan aviator and the most senior Air Force officer to be killed in action. He was the youngest son ofAir Chief MarshalHarry Goonatilake the 5thCommander of the Air Force and the brother of the 12th Commander of the Air Force, Marshal of the Air ForceRoshan Goonetileke.
Shirantha Goonetileke completed his education atRoyal College, Colombo and then he follow the footsteps of his father and elder brother to join the Sri Lanka Air Force.
In the 1980s Goonetileke took to flyingSIAI Marchetti SF.260 as ground attack roles and gained the rank ofSquadron Leader and led theRed formation during the famedOperation Eagle in 1990.
On 27 April 1995, anAvro 748 crashed soon after taking off fromSLAF Palaly killing all on-board which included Wing Commander Roger Weerasinghe, SLAF Northern Zonal Commander and several wounded soldiers. Initially suspecting mechanical fault, the air force commander Air MarshalOliver Ranasinghe dispatched a senior team of investigators to SLAF Palaly. On the morning of 29 April 1995, Wing Commander Shirantha Goonatilake piloted another Avro 748 carrying 52 armed forces personnel, including the crash investigation team Wing Commander D. S. Wickremesinghe, Wing Commander S. Pathirana and Wing Commander Kamal Welgama into approach of SLAF Palaly to land when he was attacked by theLTTE with aMANPADS. His last words over the radio were "A missile is coming my way", giving the Air Force the first indication that the LTTE were usingSAMs.[1] He was the Commanding Officer ofNo. 1 Flying Training Wing atRatmalana at the time of his death.