Airwomen rewrite history in night sky

Corporal T N D Hewagamage and Aircraftswoman K H N Ranasinghe of the Sri Lanka Air Force rewrote history by becoming the first women in South Asia to successfully complete night skydiving on October 19.

The two parachutists displayed their skills on Tuesday night at the Sri Lanka Airfoce Station, Amapara. Both women completed the dives as part of the 5th Basic Sky Diving Course.

This batch consisted of eight members with six male and two female paratroopers.

Female paratroopers have achieved a line of rapid successes since their foray into parachuting just a few years back.

Ranasinghe was among the pair who became the first women in South Asia to complete 200 parachute jumps in July. Meanwhile, SLAF Parachute Training School Commanding Officer Wing Commander Harischandra Herath also achieved another feat last week by completing 50 jumps of Night Skydiving.

The country will continue to see the SLAF paratroopers excel in their trade as early as next week, when on October 28 a batch of 35 males and five female paratroopers who completed their Basic Parachute Course have their passing-out parade.