The Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Kapila Jayampathy signed the formal final acceptance of Six brand new PT-6 aircraft after they were assembled at the Aircraft Engineering Wing (AEW) at Sri Lanka Air Force Base, Katunayake this morning at a simple ceremony at Katunayake. The event was also attended by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Sumangala Dias, members of the Air Force Board of Management and other officers as well as representatives of the Aviation Engineering Division of the M/S CATIC of China, the manufacturer and vendor of the Aircraft.

The Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Kapila Jayampathy initially signed the acceptance of 6 Brand New PT-6 Aircraft on 15 May 2018 at AVIC Hongdu in Nanchang, China.

The aircraft, painted in the recently introduced colour scheme of the SLAF, were inspected and flight tested by SLAF Engineers and Pilots, after which they were deemed to be in conformance with the specifications prior to being inducted into the SLAF Fleet.

The aircraft will be utilized at the No1 Flying Training Wing at the SLAF Academy, China Bay for the ab initio training of newly enlisted pilots.  The aircraft will also form the nucleus of an aerobatic display team to be formed in the SLAF.