Editing Upali Wijewardene (section)

==Disappearance==

Learjet 35A
Wijewardene, a licensed pilot, travelled on a Sri Lankan diplomatic passport as chairman of the GCEC. He owned a private jet, a Learjet 35A, which he had modified with another controller for the rear body.[3] His plane took off from Kuala Lumpur at 8:41 p.m. on 13 February 1983, bound for Colombo. On board with him were his Malaysian lawyer S.M. Ratnam, Upali Group Director Ananda Peli Muhandiram, pilot captain Noel Anandappa (ex-SLAF), co-pilot captain Sydney De Zoysa (former Air Ceylon Captain), and steward S. Senenayake. Fifteen minutes later, the aircraft disappeared while flying over the Straits of Malacca. Extensive search operations by air and naval units of Sri Lanka, India, the United States, the Soviet Union, Australia, Indonesia, and Malaysia failed to locate any evidence of a crash.[15][16][17]

A wheel that was thought to be part of the disappeared plane was found on Pandang Island, leading the authorities to conclude that the plane had suffered a mid-air explosion. Later investigations revealed that the plane manufacturer did not make this wheel.[18] According to K. Godage, former Malaysian High Commissioner, the government of Sri Lanka showed no interest in investigating the disappearance further.[14] Rumours later circulated that Wijewardene was to have been named the minister of finance by president J. R. Jayewardene the next day, on his return to Colombo.[citation needed]