The missing AN-32 aircraft belonging to 33 Squadron took off from in Chennai at 8.30 a.m. on Friday and was expected to land at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at 11.30 a.m. In a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence, the Air Force chief said that the AN-32 is a dependable aircraft and capable aircrew are chosen to fly them.
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A massive search operation involving more than 15 navy and coastguard vessels, a submarine and Indian Air Force aircraft had been ongoing since Friday.
The last call from the aircraft was around 16 minutes after take-off, an official said, when the pilot reported that “everything is normal”.
He boarded an aircraft from Tambaram and was briefed by the IAF and Navy personnel before leaving for the aerial survey.
Defence sources said the plane was at about 23,000 feet when the last contact was established.
Defense ministry officials said the AN-32 was on a routine sortie from Air Force Station Tambaram to Port Blair, when it went missing about 300 km east of Chennai. “Several aircraft with surveillance equipment of the IAF, the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard have been flying in the area”.
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.
The complaint says that 29 personnel on board AN-32 and the aircraft have gone missing.
The Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre at Chennai has been coordinating the search effort along with the Southern Air Command of the IAF, the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.
An IAF source said radar data from the missing aircraft showed it making a sharp left turn before rapidly losing altitude. A submarine was also diverted to the area to help locate transmissions from the emergency locator beacon onboard the plane.
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The Indian Air Force has a fleet of over 100 of Antonov AN-32s, in service since the 1980s, and they are slated for a $400 million avionics upgrade and modernization program by the Ukrainian arms trading firm Ukrspetsexport.
