The fate of 29 people on board the Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft that went missing over the Bay of Bengal on Friday morning is still unclear as search operations continued till late into Saturday.
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There has been no signal pickup or spotting of debris from the missing aircraft yet.
“The complaint says that 29 personnel on board AN-32 and the aircraft have gone missing, said the officer”. He instructed that more resources could be diverted for the goal if necessary. “The defence minister was apprised of the hard conditions under which the rescue operations are being carried out”.
“The sea is very choppy and there is a thick cloud cover in the area”, a defence ministry official said.
“As the depth increases, challenges also increase”, he said, adding that the weather was rough and it was raining.
Despite massive search operations, no trace of AN-32.
Meanwhile, IAF PRO Wing Commander Anupam Banerjee ruled out possibility of the aircraft developing a technical snag.
The last call from the aircraft was around 16 minutes after take-off, when the pilot reported that “everything is normal”.
At least 18 navy and coast guard ships including a submarine are involved in search operations.
“Nothing is being discounted; we have started a multi-pronged kind of a search”. The IAF has deployed two C-130 aircraft equipped with electro-optical and infra-red sensors. Indian Navy has deployed 13 ships in the search area and is being assisted by six ships of Indian Coast Guard and merchant vessels in the area. Emergency locator beacons usually get activated in case a plane crashes.
AN-32, IAF’s Port Blair bound transport plane went missing after it took off from the Tambaram air base here by 8.30 AM on July 22.
The sources said the aircraft did not make any contact with Air Traffic Control of Port Blair, and an “overdue” action was initiated.
The aircraft was said to have made a left turn with a quick fall in height from 23,000 feet, when it was last seen.
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The Russian-made Antonov AN-32, or AN-32 for short, is a twin-engine turboprop plane used for military transport with a range of about 1,550 miles. It can carry a maximum load of around 6.7 tonnes or 39 paratroopers.
