IAF AN 32: How strong are India's search and rescue capabilities?

Two similar accidents in the course of two years, when planes vanished over the Bay of Bengal without a trace, raises questions about India's search and rescue capabilities

While accidents are a strong possibility in any flight, finding the wreckage and any possible survivors within the first 24 hours is paramount, if there has to be any chance or rescuing survivors.

However, as the current continuing search for the missing AN-32 indicates, our forces are lagging in certain skills. And this is not the first time we have faced a considerable delay in discovery and recovery.

Currently, the Indian Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard have launched a massive search and rescue operation to locate the missing IAF transport aircraft AN-32 with 29 people onboard. Last year an IAF Dornier went missing. Then, it took search teams over a month to locate the missing plane.

The Dornier aircraft, which belonged to the Coast Guard, went missing during a routine surveillance sortie on June 8, 2015. Following this, the Navy and the Coast Guard launched a massive search and rescue operation, with a total of eight ships and aircraft being pressed into action.

Over a month after its disappeared over the Chennai coast, the search team recovered the remains and personal belongings of the three crew members on July 13.

The Coast Guard then had described 'Operation Talaash' as the “first ever salvage from such depths.”

In the present day, the Indian Air force AN 32, carrying 23 personnel and six crew members onboard went missing on Friday while making its way back to Port Blair from Chennai.

The IAF transport aircraft, which was on a routine courier run, took off from Chennai at 8.30 am and was expected to arrive at 11.30 am at Port Blair.

But according to IAF sources, the aircraft went missing at 9.15 am after climbing to an altitude of 23,000 feet.

Even as the joint search and rescue operation has been on for 24 hours, it has not made any headway.

"Navy and Coast Guard is in full force. We have ships and a submarine deployed. However, we have made no headway in the search operation and couldn't locate anything as of now. We are carefully monitoring for any signs of the aircraft," Rear Admiral Alok Bhatnagar, Flag Officer of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry Naval Area told the press on Saturday.

According to the Indian Navy, a total of 18 naval ships, along with five ships from the Indian Coast Guard and a Navy submarine have been pressed into the rescue op.

However, if last year's difficulties are any indication, then hopes for a speedy recovery grow dim. 

Why is it so hard to find a missing plane?

According to an Aviation expert, from the moment when an aircraft loses contact, the plane can glide  at gradient of 1:20 until it makes contact with the surface. 
So at a height of 20,000 feet, assuming that AN 32 did not break up in midair, it can land anywhere within an 8,00,000 lakh feet radius. The exact direction would depend on the way the plane veers. 

In AN 32's case, it veered to the left.  This means search teams have to inspect nearly a thousand square kilometres of open sea.

While the extensive searches continue, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar  has reached Tamabaran to monitor the situation.