Who is Suren?
Suren Ratwatte, FRAeS, is an accomplished pilot, airline executive and aviation researcher.
He became one of the world’s first Airbus A380 Captains, was previously SriLankan Airlines’ CEO and has also been featured in several books and academic publications.
Category: history
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The dreaded ‘second wave’ hits India
The iniquities of vaccination and the impact on air travel India is ablaze. Not with forest fires, but funeral pyres as the COVID-19 pandemic is undergoing a vicious second-wave in the region. With over 1.8 million confirmed cases and more than 200,000 deaths India is now surging towards breaking all records in this pandemic.…
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The crash of Icelandic Airlines flight LL001 – Part 2
The crash of Icelandic Airlines flight LL001 – the aftermath The tragic crash of Flight LL001, a Douglas DC-8-63CF operated by Icelandic Airlines and chartered by Garuda Indonesia, in November 1978 sent shock waves through Sri Lanka. The island was just emerging from a long period of self-imposed isolation. In November 1978, when the accident…
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The crash of Icelandic Airlines flight LL001 — Part 1
The crash of Icelandic Airlines flight LL-001 In 1978 Sri Lanka was emerging from a long period of economic isolation. A landmark election the year before had ushered in a change of government, with a mandate to open up the economy. Rebuilding ties with the West, long-ignored during a period of austerity and socialist policies,…
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‘Avro’ HS 748
Alliot Verdon Roe was another of the world’s almost-forgotten aviation pioneers. In 1909, only six years after the Wright brothers first flew in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, young Roe designed, built and flew the first British aircraft in Hackney, near London. A.V. Roe and his brother Humphrey formed the Avro aircraft company in 1910. Their…
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The world’s longest scheduled flight
The world’s longest flight What’s the world’s longest flight? That is a matter of some dispute and the subject of a ‘pissing contest’ among some of the world’s most prominent airlines. Current claimants Before the worldwide COVID-19 shutdown Singapore Airlines had a tenuous claim for the ‘longest flight’ — the Changi to Newark (New Jersey,…
