Capt. Druvi Perera who will be stripped of his Chief Operations Officer title at the end of the month threw a farewell ‘lamprais’ party for his Flight Operations friends on his last day at Katunayake on Friday. This post which is not recognized by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka as a stake holder’s post was tailor made for him for political reasons by the former Chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe said an employee of the airline.
Capt. Druvi Perera
Colombo Telegraph reliably learns that he will be resuming full time duties as a line pilot even though his flying record was proven to be tainted with two pilot related incidents.
Capt. Druvi Perera was highlighted in the ‘Weliamauna Report’ along with the former Chairman Wickramasinghe, former CEO Kapila Chandrasena, Head of Finance Yasantha Dissanayake and Head of Human Resources Pradeepa Kekulawala, as those who were accused of corruption and malpractices that caused the national carrier to plunge to a monumental loss of over Rupees 120 billion during their reign.
Even the skills of the former Chief Operations Officer Capt. Druvi Perera as an incompetent pilot was exposed recently where he went on to hush up his own two incidents when he was in command of commercial flights with human lives on board.
In his first incident the aircraft he piloted skidded off the runway in Chennai which caused serious damage to the runway lights and aircraft in India. His second incident was when he pushed back the aircraft prior to obtaining Air Traffic Control clearance on a VVIP flight with the former President Rajapaksa on board.
Both incidents were covered up ending with no record found in his personal file.
“What disturbs most of us now is that it is rumored that Capt.Druvi Perera may be entrusted to carry out instructor duties in flight on other pilots. If that is the case then there is a serious cause for concern as many pilots openly came forward and provided crucially important information to the Board of Investigation. This will be a serious conflict of interest as Capt. Druvi Perera could be biased in this role and could easily take revenge by failing those pilots on their routine flight checks” said a concerned captain of the airline.
f=ma / May 30, 2015
CT Please stop! this is outrageous. It’s clearly obvious one of the editors has had a bad experience on a flight piloted by him or other personal grievances. I and most of the community do not care if he hosts a lamprais party or even if he had served biriyani for that matter; let the man be. He has done something wrong and the people have gotten justice now.
As an aviation enthusiast, stop bragging about the Chennai and push back clearance incident. Although Airbus aircraft are highly automated, the elements are uncontrollable. Read the report for the Chennai flight:
http://www.caa.lk/images/stories/pdf/aiu_report/11_final_report_on_incident_of_sri_lankan_airlines_flight_ul_121_airbus_a330_4r_alcon_13th_october_2008.pdf
Captain Druvi was the Instructor/ Captain and the Aircraft was flown by his F/O. It’s partly Captain Druvi’s fault but do note that everything was normal until the trajectory of the aircraft changed at 100 feet. He literally had a matter of seconds to regain controls. The landing gear sustained a bit of damage and I doubt anything catastrophic happened as told by the overly dramatic Colombo folk. CT says this caused serious damage ‘to aircraft in India’ lol
The Push-back incident, again, I feel is overly exaggerated. We cannot circumstantiate the traffic at the apron and he was carrying the President who would have even applied pressure on him to expedite. It’s not like he took off without take off clearance which is a totally different story. Pilots can listen to conversations between ATC and other aircraft, and are aware of the surroundings. If he merely push backed and awaited taxi clearance, there is no harm done even though it is improper procedure. It’s not like he crashed the plane or something.
You guys have just reached a new low in Sri Lankan journalism.
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Archemedes / May 30, 2015
This is a valid comment. Note that CT is slowly starting to rely on “informed sources who preferred to remain anonymous”, or in this case an unattributed comment from a “concerned captain of the airline”. This is the worst form of journalism,because it it hearsay. Many Sri Lankans rely on CT as a legitimate source of information. Maintain your high standards by relying on more compelling sources of information that would withstand the test of impartial scrutiny.And please, avoid articles on trivial matters like lamprais parties.
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Douglasd / May 30, 2015
Why the two incidents were not investigated by the Management? Ample evidence would be available on these incidents. In the case of “skidding” off the runaway, that Air Port Management would have properly recoded the incident and even pictures would have been taken to make an assessment of the accident. Also that would have been very well investigated by the Insurance Co. that had insured the aircraft. Also the second incident is much more serious than the first one, in that,without obtaining clearance from the Ground Handling of the Engineering personnel, how can the pilot move the aircraft. That would have led to a major disaster culminating in loss of life. The person from the Ground Engineering who was handling the aircraft must have logged the incident and that is a thing that cannot be overlooked at all.
Now the question is: when the Inquiry Panel appointed by the Minister has found the relevant details; why is this pilot let go freely and make him to operate as a line pilot? He must be SUSPENDED forthwith and it is not too late to hold a proper inquiry and if found guilty to punish him appropriately. If he is allowed to operate as a Line Pilot, doesn’t it mean a very serious lapse on the part of the present Management that can be a huge “Compromise” of SAFETY ASPECTS of the airline. How is the present Management that has compromised on such a safety aspect explain matters to the world Civil Aviation authorities and the Insurance Companies that have undertaken the insurance of the fleet? In my opinion, if the present Management is not heeding the dangers associated with these operational aspects; it is nothing but correct even some employee organization or even a traveler to make a complaint to the world Civil Aviation Authorities of the impending disasters that would take place in the air with this operating pilot.
Looking at it from another aspect, this individual has been subjected to face problems and provide answers connected with his operational and management aspects by governing authorities and fellow employees. Has the present Management looked into his present state of mental balance and the psychological fitness to be allowed to handle flying duties? We have found many operational pilots who have developed such “disorders” committing various crimes including major disasters. If any such safety breach takes place, how is the present Management going to face such a situation?
The way this matter has been handled,(as reported) in this article, the present Management looks highly “incompetent” in the discharge of their duties by the traveling public or the country. Better late than never. Please get your brains cracking on the responsibilities you are entrusted with, if not a “major disaster” is ahead. Please don’t wait till then to explain. That is not “Yahapalanaya”; but it would be “Yakapalanaya”.
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Jagath Fernando / May 30, 2015
Looks like Druvi is being targeted by CT
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Analyst / May 30, 2015
Danger signs ……. Certainly A No Confidence Motion on this appointment. Shame on Srilanka Shame on the officials Re employing this person as an inflight trainer Pilot.
Would it be safe for the trainee pilots. ? Would the parents or families have a say in this nomination.?
Has the President overlooked the dangers ? The Passengers safety is Paramount.
Give an office job on the ground level for the safety of all concerned.
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dcn / May 30, 2015
Happy to note he will be finished with Airlanka COO’s post w.e.f.today. they were a law unto themselves. He should be watched when he functions as a pilot as there has been instances of abuse earlier.
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cholan / May 30, 2015
Look at the Malaysian Airline after having 2 accidents and loss of billions due to state racialy appointed corrupt management .today they have brought some one from Europe who is well known for recovering Sabina and Lufthansa ,Air Lingus
Soon Malaysia will have an airline with new brand name….8,000 staff will be axed …closure of unprofitable routes ..leasing or selling some aircrafts ….
Here too they want a doctor …
but events shows they are repeating the same mistakes…
Even leading European and US airlines are struggling because of the competition from Emirates..Etihad,,Qatar airlines all subsidized by their states..
Can a local airline survive???
BEST IS TO SHUT DOWN THIS SHAME LANKA AIRLINES …
Ps: The only route they can make money is direct non-stop Colombo-Autralian cities flights….with an advanced aircraft ,,,other routes are all SHOW …
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f=ma / May 31, 2015
Cholan,
Sabena is no more, Aer Lingus is losing very badly to Ryanair and Lufthansa is infallible because it’s an established flag carrier. Good luck to the new guy you are talking about.
MH is foolish selling all their new long haul aircraft and resorting to old 777’s to fill a few long haul routes. I read that they are cancelling nearly all their European routes except for LHR and CDG which is rather foolish; think of it, Malaysia has a larger market than SL (especially European) and UL will serve more European destinations than MH. I don’t think a European business models work for Asian countries anyways.
UL does have a future, we need a flag carrier free of corruption. QR threatens governments who don’t give them landing slots by cutting ties with Qatar companies and the Qatar government which is sad and unethical. I fly a decent amount and have never flown Emirates although I bank a lot on QR and EH. UL should cater more to economy class and a few business class seats. It should make use of OneWorld!
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cholan / May 31, 2015
The new CEO of Malaysian Airlines is correct …to save a patient sometime an operation is inevitable
MALAYSIAN airlines failure is purely because of racist malay staffing policy …most staff are not even qualified …and just sitting and get salaries ..when MAS was managed by a Tamil and Chinese as heads it was very profitable
I repeat SL AIRLINES will never compete with Qatar..Emirates…Etihad who are running with heavy subsidies from state …with excellent new aircrafts and super inflight services and their tickets are very competitive …
Today what passenger expecting is safety..comfortable …good service…
At this hour passengers fly to Australia ….have to go through Dubai..KL..Singapore wasting lot of time …a direct non stop route will bring money certainly …
Do you think after reading all these news about SHAME LANKA AIRLINES europeans will fly in this airline ? Even locals think 3 times before booking….
Once again a hopeless team is in charge for this SHAME LANKA AIRLINES will lead to more disaster ..
Government never interfere with Singapore airlines management from the beginning ….and recruitment is purely based on qualifications and experiences…this is the secret of its success
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f=ma / June 1, 2015
Your ignorance is killing me. You are so racist lol. You think you need a Tamil person for the organization to be successful, grow up dude! we live in a multicultural society! there is a greater probability for a Malay to be chosen in Malaysia lol . Also MH was profitable till 2010, then it brought on new equipment like the A380 and newer 737’s.
Australia is just one market and it isn’t a huge one per se. It isn’t huge enough to send a long haul aircraft unless the A332 and it’s more or less seasonal(March-August period).
We should provide direct flights connecting European destinations with more economy seats; European tourists especially are very thrifty and we can fill the gap by providing direct routes.
We can compete with ME3. EH sends only an A320, QR is OneWorld as well and the only real competition is Emirates which is comparatively expensive (for connections to North America and Europe, but more or less the same to DXB) but sends a gazillion flights a week.
Our management is the only thing which is bound to bring it down. Safety of course isn’t an issue because the pilots will anyway have to do annual checks and the new Captain in charge of Safety will be able to prevent culprits from going undetected. Also from the data given, most incidents are caused by older pilots (>45) and our safety was worse during the Chandrika regime as well. I read a story some years back about a German ‘Captain’ flying for UL without even a license. A true catch me if you can scenario. The younger pilots have simulator training and most of them have received their type ratings in USA and so on. Our equipment is also not that old. The A343’s are old (>20) yet reliable and well maintained enough to win awards from Airbus; only issue is that they are gas guzzlers.
We don’t need people like you hampering progress Cholan.
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cholan / June 1, 2015
Who is ignorant ????
The MAS was profitably run when a Tamil was CEO …..
The fast growing AIR ASIA is run by an Indian not by MALAY…
Today racisit Malaysia is almost bankrupted after all institutions went to Malays who just watch internet at offices…and get salary
When the MALAYSIAN GOVERNMNET SOVERIGN FUND got busted at last they have brought a Tamils from Abu Dhabi bank to repair this..he he he
For this bankrupt fund malaysian government got a big loan from a Tamil wealthy guy to pay the debts…he he he
Can your SHAME LANKE AIRLINE (flight stewardess were recruited after de-flowering by an old rascal who has not an ounce of knowledge about an airline ..but many qualified and experienced are working desk work) appoint a TAMIL to run the airline ???
Do you think after reading all about your stunts of your SHAME LANKA AIRLINE pilots any European will fly again ????
Do you honestly think you can compete ETIHAD..QATAR AIR WAYS …EMIRATES …???
Do you know what price QATARA airways offer now to long routes …..???
Close down all routes and open direct routes to Australia at least this airline will get some revenue …
Malaysian airline decide to cut over 8,000 staff immediately ( many malay guys are their to open and shut doors)and the rest 14,000 will get only temporary work contract …..
When an aircraft has got 500+ staff (to satisfy politicians) per aircraft disaster is inevitable exactly this is why HUNGARIAN AIRLINE was grounded…CZECH airline is struggling…
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iemerald / June 5, 2015
YOU AIN,T IGNORANT MY MAN YOU JUST BRAIN DEAD.
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iemerald / June 5, 2015
IAG IS BUYING AER LINGUS. SO AER LINGUS WILL RISE AGAIN.
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Priyan / June 1, 2015
who are you ? what factual info you have to substantiate your claims of Srilankan Airlines not being able to make money in other routes other than a route that they dont fly(Australia) ? We dont have any airline called “Shame Lanka Airlines” – maybe in your distorted & wild imagination.
On Malaysian Airlines they will only re-brand – not shut down. They are going to hire back 2/3 of their existing work force. Malaysian Airlines never made money since inception – Srilankan differs here; we made money in 1997 under Harry Jayawardena’s local SL management & then under Emirates management. We of course need some tune ups – but nothing near what your “unprofessional” option suggests !!
Please stick to an area which is known to you.
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cholan / June 1, 2015
Hello when your AIR LANKA was in service there were no EMIRATE..ETIHAD..QATAR airlines…so probably on paper AIR LANKA made money…
The question is can this SHAME LANK AIRLINE (thanks to Nishanka Wicramasinghe) make profit with these well established above said airlines now offer excellent service..safety. ..using brand new aircrafts?
Even if the airline choose a non stop direct flights to Europe over Russia ….it is impossible to make profit after all in airline industry profit is just near 2%….other expenses are high
After what happened to the British CEO of Sri Lankan airlines you can also call SHAME LANKA AIRLINES…do you think any expatriate will join this airline in the management ?
If you have memory problem remember how Premadasa government kicked out SAS highly qualified CEO from AIR LANKA with a big compensation to give the management to Bredman Weerakoon a civil servant without an ounce of knowledge about airline who refused to work under a white fellow ??
Indian -Malaysian Tony Fernandes boss of NO:1 one low cost Airline AIR ASIA started with just 3 aircrafts and today they have 150+ aircrafts…flying to 130 destinations including most Australian cities direct…also within next 10 years planning to fly to every city in Greater China…
Cheers …
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iemerald / June 5, 2015
AIR ASIA OR FOR THAT MATTER ANY BUDGET AIRLINE LIKE RYAN AIR ARE SHIT AIRLINES, BY THE TIME YOU PAY FOR THE EXTRAS YOU MIGHT AS WELL FLY A NATIONAL CARRIER.
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Pygmalion / May 30, 2015
If this man is going to resume duties as a Pilot,who will fly Srilankan Airlines?
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bo / May 31, 2015
Sell it to someone who knows how to make a profit.
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Nishantha W / May 31, 2015
Am very sorry for giving the promotion.only plus was he did lots of my duties really well
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Waruna / May 31, 2015
It’s interesting to note how a few would always rise to defend crooks, it happened and is happening in the case of rogue MaRa too. Thanks to CT many serious aviation related issues are being rectified now and the screaming types here should be happy for aviation, the flying public, the airline and the country. It needed a good shaking to make the dead leaves fall and they ARE falling thanks to CT. Ok, some incidents referred to here may not be that serious but then again they should’ve been investigated and action taken to prevent recurrence. That did not happen, instead this same guy who prevented many experienced local pilots from returning to the cash strapped airline that had been depending on expatriate pilots for over six decades was into many yet to be revealed deals at making dosh.
There should be further investigations into all corrupt practices during his tenure in office.
Come fly the line but please delve deeper into all sins commited.
CT, we thank you !
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f=ma / June 1, 2015
Waruna,
There is a difference between defending MR and defending our National Airline. I doubt CT played any role at all. These incidents were exaggerated to proportions so that naive people rolled their eyes over simple issues. You don’t even know what other Airlines do! Last month a Turkisk A330 over ran the runway causing a write off of the entire aircraft, next day an Air Canada A320 nearly crashed and resulted in a write off as well. CT made our small incident look like the ones above and these incidents are happening to well known carriers!
Similarly, an Asiana Airlines A320 merely skidded of the runway this month or last month and it was reported all over the world! If our incident happened in India, why didn’t the Indian media report it then and why didn’t Indian authorities investigate it?.. does MR have control over Indian media freedom as well?
So far there haven’t been any major incidents with new recruits or even old ones. Sri Lankan pilots should be recruited indeed but CT’s leak who I am guessing is a ‘concerned Captain’ has personal grievances with Capt Druvi. The flying public need not be concerned because the leaks aren’t credible and there hasn’t been a disaster since LTTE destroyed our aircrafts. Tyre’s blowing and belly skimming the runway are daily occurrences in Aviation.
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cholan / June 1, 2015
@ f=ma
AIR CEYLON….AIR LANKA..SRILANKAN AIRLINES..MIHIN all end up with loss loss loss ..
The truth is they have never appointed a right person to run the airline ….all appointments were based on racial basis …so they robbed the airlines and de-flowered all chicks…
he he he this joker NISHANTHA WICKRAMASINGHE was a grade 8 qualified planter..how can he manage or run airline?????
Best is to sell the aircrafts and equipments…and get some money….
Cheers
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f=ma / June 2, 2015
Cholan,
no point talking about Nishantha anymore.. he screwed up and he is history now.
You are totally insane about racial bias. Don’t want to disclose names but search for the chief pilot of the A330 and A340 fleet, and tell me whether their names don’t sound Tamil enough for you?
There are also Tamils occupying higher up administrative positions during Nishantha’s tenure.
If your buddies from the LTTE didn’t blow away aircraft from UL, it would have been a leading airline in the region.
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cholan / June 2, 2015
he he he ..again LTTE is blamed for the failure of UL ……not their corrupt management…
Even when your UL was at its peak it was making profit on in paper…..this was exposed many times
From the day one of defunct AIR LANKA there are TAMILS with very high qualification and experience still working with SHAME LANKAN AIRLINES but they can’t become MD or CEO because of the Sinhala racists
From day one many SL origin Tamils were invoked with SINGAPORE AIRLINES in many high positions and and worked there without fear ..this is why SIA today a leading airline in the world
Remember big nose Empereor J R `s cousin who was just a Pilot at SIA without any knowledge in Air Line management was made as a Chairman of UL …who has brought all his half-baked cronies from Pakistan..Philippines and Thailand and killed the UL ???
Your people can’t run an airline …and can’t even run a country ..this is history
Countries got independence even 60 s are making economic miracles but this country has been destroyed by racist Sinhala politicians and Buddhist Ayotullahs..
Cheers
Cheers
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Banda / May 31, 2015
Ok so now he has stepped down, what is with the other rogues knifing head of hr? Still remaining high handed? What has happened to the accusations against him? Sexual harassment, unfair promotions ( hr manager planning and analytics was appointed purely based on the pleasure climaxes), unauthorized recruitment (interns to executives overnight where one is a neighbour whose father owns petrol stations in kohuwala)
So now why’s he still remaining?
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Waruna / June 1, 2015
F=Ma, so the hat fitted you well didn’t it ? Good.
You may like to believe that aviation is foreign to all except you and you are wrong there my friend. All those events you speak are aviation related accidents no doubt and anyone reading the papers or scanning the net would know that. Thanks for bringing them up, that’s the very same we need to avoid to Sri Lankan. UL has had several incidents since of late my friend and it’s heading towards an accident when vindictive, MaRa bootlickers with poor aviation record attempt to run it.
If I can let you into a little secret, I fly bigger jets and I know what’s going on at UL.
CT has done a big favour to aviation and that’s my opinion too
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f=ma / June 2, 2015
Now MaRa is no more and I don’t think Ranil’s catches are any better. Same old shit with a new face and name.
You didn’t answer my previous question; did MaRa have control over Indian press to not release news about the Chennai incident in India if it was as serious as CT claims?
CT makes mountains out of mole hills and all the gullible folk fall for it. You may not but read the comments by the community on the opinion of whether Sri Lankan is safe to fly released 4 months back .I personally love flying UL with the only limitations being financial constraints.
Happy flying!
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Pabodha / June 1, 2015
For GOD’S sake this is our national carrier, and it should be run by responsible people and not by heedless unqualified people like Druvi. How would a person incompetent and careless in handling an aircraft be an instructor pilot? I think the logic is simple that he’s unfit for flying. Shame on the management of the national carrier for doing such things jeopardizing the trust.
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Tamil Pundai / June 2, 2015
Choolan – Yes SriLankan needs more cleaning staff and definitely Tamils would fit in!!!… Then gradually they can become CEO…. Like after serving 20 years!….
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cholan / June 2, 2015
your name alone show what a 3rd rate fellow you are…..
if you are unable to reply for my comments shut up dirt…..
What are your mother…sisters..daughters and wife doing in Middle East for Arabs…????
You don’t have to wait this for 20 years SHAME LANKA AIRLINE will vanish completely very soon ….
Today Tamils can start their own Airlines IN MANY COUNTRIES when then happen you can apply for cleaning job ..
Cheers
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Eshan / June 4, 2015
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2/
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Waruna / June 6, 2015
Cholan, Tamil [Edited out] ( if you wish ) you two cannot take part in any sensible discussion from the comments we see here.
You both should not be allowed near an aircraft so please go off elsewhere with your venomous attacks.
By the way a few Tamils too hold management posts at UL and that hadn’t done it any favors as they too have restrictions.
The Race of a person is no magic bullet so please don’t bring in that garbage here.
Go ahead with your venomous attacks if you have nothing better to do, we will ignore you !
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