A complaint has been lodged by retired aeronautical engineer Dinesh de Alwis with the Central Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) concerning the Airbus A320 type rating obtained by Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) Director General Daminda Rambukwella, who was then a Junior First Officer (JFO) at SriLankan Airlines.

The complaint concerns Rambukwella’s simulator training and assessments in 2022. 

According to the allegations, he failed several simulator assessments, identified as FFS 4, FFS 7, FFS 8, and FFS 9, raising questions about whether he met the requirements for the relevant licence endorsement.

Rambukwella, who had been recruited to the national airline as a JFO, was reportedly given a Grade 1 (unsatisfactory/fail) for a simulator training exercise by the Type Rating Instructor.

Despite the failed assessments, Rambukwella was allegedly permitted to continue his training at SriLankan Airlines. Several instructors reportedly declined to continue training him and resigned over concerns about the process.

In 2024, seven senior training captains, including the Chief Pilot Training and Standards, resigned from their supervisory positions on SriLankan Airlines’ Pilot Training and Standards Committee over what they described as “unlawful interference”.

They alleged that then Director General of Civil Aviation P.A. Jayakantha had disregarded the trainee’s failures and intervened to allow him to continue simulator training on the Airbus A320, in contravention of training and standards approvals issued by the CAASL.

The instructors who had raised concerns about the training are understood to have subsequently provided statements to the CCIB following the complaint.