Port Blair is the home to tri-services command.
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Media reports claim that bad weather could have played a role in forcing the aircraft off its flight path.
With concern mounting hours after its disappearance, five surveillance aircraft, 13 navy and coastguard ships and a submarine launched the search for the aircraft, which vanished shortly after take-off from the southern city of Chennai. The skeletal remains and personal belongings of the crew members were recovered from the seabed off the Tamil Nadu coast.
Extensive search and rescue operations are underway, with the Defence Ministry scrambling planes and deploying naval ships to search for the aircraft in Bay of Bengal.
IAF AN-32 take off at 8:30am for Port Blair.
The twin-engine aircraft, which was on a routine courier sortie, has an endurance up to four hours, that is, it can fly for that period without refuelling. The last recorded transcript of Chennai air traffic radar pickup was 151 nautical miles east of Chennai.
Despite massive search operations, no trace of AN-32.
Official sources said, Mr Parrikar will get a detailed briefing on the search and rescue operations being undertaken by the Navy, Air Force and the Coast Guard. It carries supplies for the defence base in Andamans daily. However, the flight went off the radar at 9:12 AM. “In smaller aircraft, the pilots switch on to the high frequency for being in touch”, the pilot added. The NDRF will provide manpower from its Chennai base, officials said.
The air force has 101 of the AN-32s that entered service in 1984 and have gone through mid-life upgrades and life extensions since then.
The aircraft is created to be used in both – civilian as well as military situations.
The An-32 prototype took its maiden flight in July 1976.
Techinical Failure: The most likely case, feel experts, is technical failure like the locking of control surface – rudder, ailerons, elevator- which would send the aircraft into an uncontrollable tailspin.
The AN-32, which can carry 40 to 50 passengers or 7.5 tonnes of cargo, is usually considered a reliable aircraft despite the absence of creature comforts.
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The Indian Navy along with Air Force has started a search in the Bay of Bengal.
