Here’s The Fact Behind Viral Post Claiming That Sri Lankan Airlines Has Never Been In An Accident

In the wake of the online conversations surrounding the recent crash of an Air India flight to UK in India’s Ahmedabad, several instances of misinformation have gone viral online.

From unrelated videos to fake claims around the survivor, Newschecker has debunked several such claims as can be seen here, here and here.

In another such instance, a TikTok post, in Sinhala, claims, “Did you know? Sri Lankan Airlines is the only airline from South Asia to have never got into an airline accident! The video shows how the airline landed in Heathrow, London amidst difficult weather conditions to the surprise of the airport staff. Proud of my country!”

Newschecker checked the veracity of this claim and found it to be false.

Fact Check/Verification

Air Safety Support International defines an aircraft accident “as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which, in the case of a manned aircraft, takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked, or in the case of an unmanned aircraft, takes place between the time the aircraft is ready to move with the purpose of flight until such time as it comes to rest at the end of the flight and the primary propulsion system is shut down…” 

Thus, it is clear that an aircraft accident can happen to both manned and unmanned aircraft. 

We then looked up records of Sri Lankan Airlines since it was first established in 1979, and noticed that the airline has indeed been involved in several aircraft accidents, the most notable of which are: 

1.⁠ ⁠⁠On May 3, 1986, the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, operating the flight for Sri Lankan Airlines (known as Air Lanka then), was on the ground in Colombo, about to fly on to Malé, Maldives, when an explosion ripped the aircraft in two, destroying it. The Tristar had come from London’s Gatwick airport, stopping at Zurich and Dubai on the way to Colombo. Boarding of the flight had been delayed due to the aircraft being damaged during cargo/baggage loading. During the delayed boarding, a bomb, hidden in the aircraft’s Fly Away Kit exploded. The bomb had been timed to detonate mid-flight. 21 people died while 41 were injured. A few months later, the Sri Lankan government announced that the bomb was planted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to sabotage peace talks between them and the government. 

More information about this accident can be found here and here. 

2.⁠ ⁠On January 10, 1992, the right landing gear of an Air Lanka Boeing 737-200 (registration 4R-ULL) at Madras Airport (now Chennai International Airport) failed upon landing, and the right engine came into contact with the runway until it came to a stop. The right engine caught fire – extinguished by the airport safety services – and the 104 passengers and 12 crew evacuated the aircraft via the chutes on the left side without injury. The damage to the aircraft was substantial. The cause was stated as follows in the Civil Aviation accident summary report: “The accident occurred as a result of failure of the right hand main landing gear beam during the landing due to pre-existing stress corrosion cracks and pits at its inboard lug hole and higher than normal landing loads contributed to its failure.” 

More information about this accident can be found here.

Conclusion

Thus, it is clear that Sri Lankan Airlines has faced aircraft accidents since its inception and to claim that it is the only South Asian airline to have never faced an accident is false.

Our Sources

‘Definition of Accident and Serious Incident’, published on Air Safety Support International, as viewed on June 17, 2025
‘Blowing-up Air Lanka’s Tristar-36 on May 3, 1986’, published on The Island, January 7, 2024
‘1986: Bomb kills 21 in Sri Lanka: On this Day’, published on BBC, May 3, 2005
Aviation Safety Network Report on Boeing 737-200, published on website of same name, as viewed on June 17, 2025