MYSTERIOUS GROUND-PENETRATING SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT AT BIA

COLOMBO (News 1st): A special purpose aircraft has landed at the Bandaranaike International Airport. The Basler BT-67 aircraft from Spectrem Air, ZS-ASN which is fitted with one of the advanced fixed-wing airborne systems capable of ground surveying and has the ability to simultaneously map shallow and deep features up to 1000m. HERE IS WHAT WE KNOW According to the Civil Aviation Authority, this special aircraft has landed at BIA for transit purposes for three days. They claim it is bound for India on the 9th of July. This aircraft has arrived in the country from Indonesia. Sources reveal that the aircraft had arrived in the country without any passengers, for non-commercial purposes. According to those in the industry, this is known as being “ferried” It is important to note that a flight path from Indonesia to Colombo falls over the country. If as claimed, the aircraft arrived from Indonesia, it would have flown across Sri Lanka in order to land in Colombo. If any survey is to be carried out ion lands that belong to Sri Lanka, prior approval should be sought from the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau however, the mines bureau claimed that they were unaware of the arrival of a such an aircraft and noted that they had not granted permission for any surveying activity to be carried out in the country.