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All 29 feared dead IAF plane goes missing
All 29 on board an Indian Air Force AN-32 aircraft en route to Port Blair from Chennai are feared dead after the plane went missing over the Bay of Bengal on Friday morning.
Chennai/New Delhi: All 29 on board an Indian Air Force AN-32 aircraft en route to Port Blair from Chennai are feared dead after the plane went missing over the Bay of Bengal on Friday morning.
The aircraft was on a routine weekly flight. Of the 29 people who were on the plane include 11 from the Air Force, two of the Army and nine people from the Navy, one person from the Coast Guard along with eight defence civilians of the Naval Armament Depot from Vishakhapatnam.
A massive search and rescue operation has been launched by the IAF, Navy and Coast Guard, deploying one submarine, eight aircraft and 13 ships for tracking the upgraded plane which made the last radio contact at 0846 hours, 16 minutes after take-off from Tambaram airbase.
"The plane is still missing. All efforts are being done to trace the plane and the service personnel travelling on board," Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said in the evening. "The plane, which was on a routine courier service, took off at about 0830 hours from Tambaram and it was scheduled to land at Port Blair at 1130 hours but it is overdue," IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Anupam Banerjee said.
Defence sources said the plane was at about 23,000 feet when the last contact was established. The aircraft can fly for up to four hours without refuelling. While IAF has pressed into service a C130 plane along with two AN32, the Navy has deployed two P8i maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft from the strategically important Port Blair, home to India's only tri-service command.
The Navy has also pressed into service two Dornier aircraft and 12 ships with the Eastern Fleet Commander on board for the search and rescue operation. Navy spokesperson Captain D K Sharma said, "Navy has been deployed in full force in the Bay of Bengal for the search and rescue operation." Coast Guard has rushed four ships to the spot besides two dorniers.
The Russian built twin engine AN 32 aircraft had undergone an upgrade in Ukraine. IAF has a fleet of over 100 AN32s but the multi-million dollar upgrade programme has been hit due to the crisis in Ukraine.
The aircraft is reported to have had some minor problems this month. The Navy in a statement said Eastern Naval Command deployed two P8i long-range maritime patrol aircraft with advanced electro-optics and radars, two Dornier aircraft and 12 ships with integral helicopters to join the search operations.
