There was no sighting yet of any aircraft debris more than 24 hours after an Indian Air Force plane with 29 people on board went missing over the Bay of Bengal.
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Indian Air force chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha on Monday said it is “unfortunate” that the missing AN-32 aircraft has not been traced so far, describing it as a “very hard moment”.
A spokesman for the Indian Air Force ruled out the possibility of technical snags with the missing aircraft, even though a report in a local newspaper said the plane had suffered three technical problems in July alone. It made the last radio contact at 8:46 am, 16 minutes after take-off, when the pilot reported that “everything is normal”. The flight often goes off contact on radar after it crosses 150 miles away from Chennai because the signal strength is poor and it may not be equipped with modern tracking system.
Bisht said the search has been made hard by the monsoon weather conditions over the sea. “In addition, ships and aircraft from Andaman and Nicobar region are carrying out search in areas along the flight track from Chennai to Port Blair”, said a senior Indian Coast Guard official, based at the headquarters here.
An IAF source said radar data from the missing aircraft showed it making a sharp left turn before rapidly losing altitude.
The Defence Ministry said four surveillance planes, 12 ships and a submarine were searching for the aircraft in one of India’s largest search and rescue operations in recent years. The operation is being managed by the Eastern Naval Command. avy and Coast Guard, deploying one submarine, eight aircraft and 13 ships for tracking the upgraded plane.
Scientific organisations such as INCOIS, NIOT and ISRO have also collaborated in the search operations by providing satellite imaging as well as floating deep water apparatuses to try and find the black box of the aircraft.
An Indian Air Force (IAF) plane with 29 individuals on load up has disappeared over the Bay of Bengal in the midst of severe climate.
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A massive search and rescue operation has been launched by IAF.
