On 03 January 2020, a Sri Lanka Air Force Harbin Y-12, flying from Weerawila to Colombo, crashed into a mountainous terrain near Haputale, during a surveillance mission, killing all 4 personnel on board.

The flight was a routine surveillance mission conducted by the Air Force to support law enforcement by identifying cannabis plantations.

[1][3] The aircraft involved in the accident, manufactured in 1990, was a thirty-year-old twin-engine turboprop Harbin Y-12 registered as SCL-857.

The crew consisted of the pilot-in-command, Squadron Leader Buddhi Weebedda, the co-pilot, Flight Lieutenant Lankapura Kulatunga, Sergeant Wasantha Kumara and Leading Aircraftman Nuwan Hettiarachchi.

The crash site was 65 kilometers (35 nmi) north of Weerawila, and near the village of Ayspeella.