Search For The Missing IAF AN-32 Fails To Make Any Progress As ISRO, Navy Joins The Operation
An AN-32 aircraft belonging to the Indian Air Force disappeared after it took off from Jorhat in Assam to Mechuka Advanced Landing Grounds in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. Hours after it lost contact with the ground the IAF had launched a search operation of the aircraft which had 13 people on board. The Army and local authorities too joined in and all through the night IAF and army choppers and aircraft had been looking for signs of ...Read More
It has been more than 24 hours since an AN-32 aircraft belonging to the Indian Air Force disappeared after it took off from Jorhat in Assam to Mechuka Advanced Landing Grounds in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
BCCL/ FILE
Hours after it lost contact with the ground, the IAF had launched a search operation of the aircraft which had 13 people on board.Later the Army and local authorities too joined in and all through the night IAF and army choppers and aircraft had been looking for signs of the wreckage while on the ground, soldiers have also been searching for the missing aircraft.
With little to no progress in finding the wreckage, the search is set to get bigger - with Navy craft, and ISRO's satellites joining in mission.
#IndianNavy Long Range Maritime Reconnaisance aircraft P8i takes off from INS Rajali, Arakonam, Tamil Nadu at 1300h and heads for joining the Search & Rescue operation launched by @IAF_MCC to locate the missing #AN32 between Jorhat & Mechuka. Aircraft to reach in area shortly pic.twitter.com/QbHZGoxCfU
¡ª SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) June 4, 2019
The P8i aircraft has a very powerful Synthetic Aperture Radar which shall be utilised during the SAR sweeps to locate the missing @IAF_MCC #AN32
¡ª SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) June 4, 2019
A total of eight aircrews and five passengers were onboard the aircraft. C-130, Sukhoi 30 fighter, AN-32 aircraft, two Mi-17s of IAF and Indian Army ALH helicopters were launched to locate the missing aircraft.
According to the IAF when the AN-32 last made contact it was 35 minutes into its flight and was just 70 km away from its destination. Based on this the IAF has identified some spots for the possible crash site.
A similar incident had happened in 2016 when an AN-32 that took off from Chennai en route to Andaman and Nicobar Islands disappeared in the Bay of Bengal. Despite a massive search operation that went on for weeks the wreckage of the crash was never found and all 29 people on board were presumed dead.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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