Defence Minister to monitor search operations for missing IAF's AN-32

Parrikar will visit Chennai Saturday; search to continue 24x7 for missing aircraft, 29 persons on board

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will visit Chennai Saturday to monitor the search operations for missing Indian Air Force (IAF's) aircraft AN-32. The plane, which had 29 people on board, went missing Friday morning while flying from Chennai to Port Blair. Those on board included six crew members. Officials said it was a “courier flight" with service personnel on board.

One of those in the missing aircraft is Flight Lt Deepika, a lady officer of the IAF. She was on her way to Port Blair to join her husband who is a Coast Guard officer, says a media report.

The aircraft departed from Tambaram, Chennai at 8.30 a.m. and was due at Port Blair at 11.30 a.m. It made its last contact at at 23,000 feet after 16 minutes of flight. The last recorded transcript of Chennai air traffic radar pickup was 151 nautical miles east of Chennai.

Earlier, Parrikar said all efforts are being made to trace the missing AN-32 transport plane of IAF and the persons on board.

A major search and rescue operation has been launched by the Indian Navy in the Bay of Bengal. Four coast guard ships and two Dornier aircrafts deployed for search operations 200 nautical miles from east of Chennai.
 
A total of 17 ships have been deployed by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. More than 6 aircraft have also been deployed.

Sahyadri, Rajput, Ranvijay, Kamorta, Kirch, Karmuk, Kora, Kuthar, Shakti, Jyoti,  Ghariyal and Sukanya, all Indian Navy vessels, have sailed for SAR from Port Blair and Visakhapatnam

Navy officials said a P-8I surveillance aircraft, a Dornier and four ships have been deployed in the search and rescue operation.

In June 2015, a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft with three crew members went missing while returning to the base after a regular surveillance sortie along the Tamil Nadu coast and Palk Bay. None of the crew was found. 


5 things to know about IAF's AN-32 planes
 

• The AN-32 is the main workhorse of IAF to ferry troops and supplies to forward areas.
• The AN-32 is a twin engine turboprop, medium tactical transport aircraft of Russian origin. It can carry a maximum load of around 6.7 tonnes or up to 39 paratroopers.
• IAF has a fleet of over 100 AN-32s but the multi-million dollar upgrade programme has been hit due to the crisis in Ukraine, according to reports.
• The missing aircraft is an upgraded AN-32 belonging to 33 Squadron
• AN-32 involved in 9 crashes so far, say media reports