On 7 September 1978, an Air Ceylon Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (registered 4R-ACJ) was destroyed in a fire following the explosion of a bomb in the aircraft while parked at Ratmalana Airport, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

A replacement crew - Captain Ronnie Perera and First Officer Ranjit Pedris - boarded the aircraft to ferry it to Bandaranaike International Airport for the next scheduled flight to Malé.

The control tower alerted emergency services which responded, but equipment limitations prevented them from stopping the fire from destroying the aircraft completely.

Captain Errol Cramer, pilot of the flight from Jaffna to Colombo, had noticed two passengers loitering in the cabin before departing.

In the subsequent investigation, two men who had traveled on that flight were arrested, tried and found guilty of placing a bomb under a seat before leaving the aircraft.