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Wreckage Of Missing Plane AN-32 Found, Air Force Still Looking For Survivors

The aerial search operation had resumed on Monday after a gap of two days to trace the missing transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
A soldier stands guard as an Indian Air Force AN-32 transport aircraft takes off from the technical airport in Jammu in 2008.
Reuters File Photo
A soldier stands guard as an Indian Air Force AN-32 transport aircraft takes off from the technical airport in Jammu in 2008.

The Indian Air Force on Tuesday said it found parts of the missing IAF plane AN32 near Lipo in Arunachal Pradesh. The IAF said its helicopter was undertaking search in the expanded search zone.

“Efforts are now continuing to establish the status of occupants & establish survivors. Further details will be communicated as the recovery actions progress,” the IAF tweeted.

The aerial search operation had resumed on Monday after a gap of two days to trace the missing transport aircraft of the Air Force in remote Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh, officials said.

The AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF), with eight crew and five passengers on board, had gone missing on 3 June.

On Sunday, a fleet of helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicle and C-130J aircraft had taken to the skies but they landed back due to rain and poor weather.

The aerial search operation could not take place on Saturday as well.

On Monday, the IAF deployed more helicopters, transport aircraft and has expanded the search area significantly since the beginning of the operations.

More areas were being covered by airborne sensors and satellites, and the imaging was being followed-up by close analysis of data for its synergistic amalgamation with search operations.

With eight crew members and five armed forces personnel on board, the IAF aircraft lost contact with the ground control before it went off radar on June 3.

The Russian-made plane, which was on its way to Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Shi-Yomi district Arunachal Pradesh from Jorhat in Assam, went missing 33 minutes after it took off at 12.27 am.

The IAF had on Saturday announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh to anyone providing information about location of the AN-32 transport aircraft.

On Saturday, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa reviewed the overall search operation at a high-level meeting in Assam’s Jorhat airbase.

He also interacted with families of the officers and airmen who were on board the aircraft.

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

The ground forces included troops from the Army, Indo Tibetan Border Police and state police.

The IAF had been regularly updating the families of all air warriors on board the aircraft about the rescue operation.

The Indian Navy’s P-8I aircraft was deployed earlier this week as it has electro-optical and infra-red sensors which could be helpful in the search operation.

IAF officials said ISRO’s Cartosat and RISAT satellites were taking images of the area around Menchuka to help the rescuers find the plane.

(With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.