Navy vessel detects transmission from missing Dornier aircraft

Transmission picked up in the area where ATC had lost contact with the aircraft

A Navy vessel, INS Sandhyak, has picked up a signal from the Coast Guard Dornier aircraft, which went missing with three crew members on Monday night. 

During a sub-surface search, INS Sandhyak detected intermittent transmission, likely from the Sonar Locator Beacon (SLB) of the missing aircraft, an official statement said.

The transmission was picked up around the area where the Air Traffic Control (ATC) radar had lost contact with the aircraft.

Submarine INS Sindhudhvaj is likely to arrive in the area late in the evening to undertake further sub-surface search.

The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has also diverted its research vessel 'Sagar Nidhi' and it is likely to arrive by June 14.

Reliance India Limited has also been approached to extend services of the Multi Support Vessel (MSV) with Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) for underwater operations.

The Dornier aircraft went off the radar at 9.23 pm on Monday during a routine surveillance mission along the state coast and Palk Bay after it took off from the Chennai station.