IAF assures effort to locate missing AN-32 aircraft

Indian Air Force on Friday said that it is trying its best to locate the AN-32 military passenger aircraft with 29 people on board after it went missing on its way to Port Blair from Chennai's Tambram airport .

"We will put every available asset which is with us to look for the aircraft and locate passengers," Indian Air Force PRO, Anupam Banerjee, told ANI.

Antonov An-32, a twin-engine turboprop military transport aircraft, was on a routine 'courier flight' flying at a height of 23000 feet and covering a total distance of 1375 Kilometer.

"The aircraft was airborne at 8:30am in morning. It was expected to reach Port Blair by 11:30 am, however, as of now it is overdue," he said.

"The last Radio Transmission contact was established around 8.46AM," he added.

Meanwhile, a massive search operation is underway led by IAF and assisted by Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard at the Bay of Bengal to locate the missing plane.

One P8I aircraft and one Dornier aircraft and four ships Karmukh, Gharual, Jyoti and Kuthar have been diverted to join in the search and rescue operations.