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That Icelandic Air Crash – 1978 By George Braine     In 1978, I was commissioned in the Sri Lanka Air Force as a volunteer officer. After a month of rigorous training at the Diyatalawa combat training unit, I was assigned to the Regiment of the Air Force Base at Katunayake, Sri Lanka’s largest air base. The Regiment is the ground combat unit of the Air Force. In addition to flying squadrons, the base also had administrative, engineering, logistical, supply, and other units, along with a hospital. The base is on a large coconut plantation, and sits next to Sri Lanka’s international airport, which was built long after the base was established. The two runways – of the air force and the international airport’s – ran parallel. The sound of jetliners landing and taking off was noisy and was a nuisance at night. I was given a room at the ...