IAF Missing Plane

Over seven years after an IAF AN-32 aircraft went missing in 2016, scientists at the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) stumbled upon its debris when they were testing the instruments of their newly-acquired autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for seabed mapping in December. It was during such a testing expedition undertaken by Research Vessel Sagar Nidhi on December 9-10 last year, about 310 km off the Chennai coast, the instruments on the AUV picked up some strong SONAR reflections from the seabed at a depth of 3,400 m. The strong signals intrigued the scientists who then decided to dive deeper for a closer look. "Then we dived a little deeper and took some photographs, which were shared with the Indian Air Force through the Ministry of Earth Sciences," G A Ramadass, Director, NIOT told PTI. Ramadass said the IAF confirmed that the debris was of the AN32 aircraft that had gone missing more than seven years ago. Another scientist said initially the debris

The reflections have not yet been confirmed of being the missing aircraft

Says, had instructed Air Force officials to keep in touch with family members of all the crew of the ill-fated plane and provide updates on the search operation

Complaint lodged for legal purposes; a similar plaint was filed when Coast Guard's Dornier aircraft went missing last year

Defence Minister apprised of difficult condition under which operations are being undertaken due to thick monsoon clouds

Fate of 29 passengers on board IAF's Aircraft AN-32 still unknown even after a day-and-half of the aircraft's disappearance

As many as 18 navy and coast guard ships including a submarine, and eight aircraft like P 81, C 130 and Dorniers were pressed into search operations

ISRO is in the process of looking into the data of satellites that can throw some light on the missing plane, According to A S Kiran Kumar, Chairman of ISRO

Naidu assured the families that the government would stand by them in these difficult times and would extend all possible assistance

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