SriLankan Airbus A320 suffers multiple in-flight failures, declares emergency

A SriLankan Airlines Airbus A320 suffered multiple failures of key flight instruments during a recent flight from Colombo to Singapore but managed to make an emergency landing in Medan after declaring a mayday to air traffic controllers.

The SriLankan Airbus A320-200, carrying registration 4R-ABM, was performing flight UL306 from Colombo-Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) to Singapore-Changi Airport (SIN) on June 5, 2025. The aircraft departed from Colombo at 20:25 for the routine four-hour flight to Singapore.

According to the Aviation Herald, the aircraft was climbing through 34,000ft (10,363m) over the Indian Ocean and approaching Indonesian airspace when the issues began. The flight crew initially received a cockpit indication that the first officer’s anti-ice system had failed, along with a ‘Pitot Standby’ message. Aircraft are fitted with pitot tubes to assist in providing air speed data to the pilots. These tubes, attached to the outside of the aircraft, are heated so that they do not ice over at high altitudes and provide erroneous speed information, which can ultimately cause a stall.

Markus Mainka / ShutterstockIn response to these messages, the crew worked the related procedures and checklists and contacted their flight dispatch department to troubleshoot the issue. The crew elected to continue the flight at this point, relying on the air speed data being provided to the captain’s instruments by his pitot tube.

After passing the ETOPS exit point, the point along the flight path where a diversion would be possible on one engine should the other fail, the aircraft dropped into what is known as ‘Alternate Law’, where the aircraft’s fly-by-wire system reacts to any issues affecting the speed of the aircraft. With this system coming online, the aircraft’s autopilot and auto thrust systems disengaged as the systems could not agree on the true airspeed of the aircraft. At this point, the navigation computers also began disengaging, as they too could not ascertain the aircraft’s speed.

Joe Ravi / ShutterstockThe crew worked through the related Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitoring system (ECAM) procedures and ran through the standard operating procedure for unreliable airspeed, subsequently declaring a “PAN PAN” situation onboard. The crew requested an immediate descent to a block altitude of between 33,000ft and 36,000ft, a block of airspace in which they could operate safely at any altitude in the assigned block. They received a block clearance between 30,000ft and 35,000ft.  

While maintaining 33,000ft and flying at a reduced airspeed of around 320mph, the crew received an aircraft overspeed warning followed by a stall warning. The crew correctly performed the stall recovery procedure and subsequently declared a “MAYDAY”. Having requested to make an emergency landing at Medan’s Kualanamu International Airport in Indonesia, the crew managed to follow air traffic control vectors and landed the aircraft safely on runway 23 a Medan at approximately 23:35 local time, some three hours and ten minutes after departing Colombo.

Flightradar24What the authorities say

Sri Lanka’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reported the aircraft had been dispatched under Minimum Equipment List requirements with the first officer’s pitot heater inoperative. The occurrence was rated a serious incident and is being investigated by Sri Lanka’s CAA. According to data obtained from Flightradar24, the aircraft remained on the ground in Medan for three days before heading back to Colombo on June 8, 2025, as UL303.

The aircraft involved in the incident is 14.2 years old, having been delivered to SriLankan Airlines in 2011 on lease from Aircastle. It accommodates 136 passengers in a two-class configuration comprising 16 business class and 120 economy class seats.  

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