13 IAF personnel on board missing since a week : Search teams still clueless

New Delhi: As even after seven days there is no clue about the whereabouts of An-32 aircraft, Union Minister General V K Singh (Retd) on Sunday assured that the government and defence forces are 'working tirelessly' to locate it.

The aircraft with 13 IAF personnel on board went missing on Monday afternoon after taking off from Jorhat. It was headed for Menchuka advanced landing ground in Arunachal Pradesh when it lost contact with the ground authorities at 1300 hours.

Massive efforts are on to locate An-32 transport aircraft with the Air Force deploying Navy's P-8I aircraft and Global 5000 surveillance aircraft along with NTRO satellites on the fifth day since it went missing over Arunachal Pradesh.

Apart from these, Su-30MKI combat aircraft, C-130J special operations aircraft, several choppers, UAVs and even ground troops are carrying out search missions to locate the plane.

An aerial search operation could not be undertaken on Saturday to trace the missing transport aircraft to poor weather conditions, even as ground troops continued combing the mountainous area for the sixth consecutive day.

The assets deployed for the operation include Sukhoi-30 aircraft in addition to a fleet of C-130J and An-32 planes and Mi-17 and ALH helicopters.

The ground forces include troops from the Army, Indo Tibetan Border Police and state police. The IAF has announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for anyone who provides credible information about the missing plane.