Search mission for Indian Air Force AN-32 to continue

The Indian Air Force had confirmed its military transport aircraft, AN 32, which was flying from Tambaram in Chennai to Port Blair in the Andamans went missing on Friday morning over the Bay of Bengal.

 

In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said that the AN-32 transport aircraft was carrying 29 people. The AN 32 took off from Tambaram at 8.30 am. "It takes around four hours for the plane to reach Port Blair, and it is long overdue," the statement said.

Efforts on to trace IAF AN 32 aircraft and our Service personnel on board.

— Manohar Parrikar (@manoharparrikar) July 22, 2016

 

According to IAF, the AN 32  was on a routine courier flight. Besides 23 others, there were six IAF members onboard the plane.

Among the total 29 passengers of the missing Indian Air Force AN-32 transport aircraft, 8 were family members of military personnel, while others were party of IAF, Army, Navy and Coast Guard.

 

Massive search operation launched

 

The IAF, Navy and Coast Guard have launched a massive search and rescue operation. 

 

The Indian Navy, in a flash update, said that it has launched a full scale search and rescue operation. In the mission, the navy has deployed the P-8I Neptune, which is a variant of the US Navy’s P-8A Poseidon multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft (MPA).  The Dornier surveillance aircraft also has been put into action.

 

Indian Navy has also diverted four ships from their routine courses to help with the search. The ships are - INS Karmuk, a Kora-class corvette; INS Gharial, a Magar-class amphibious warfare vessel; INS Jyoti (A58) a Komandarm Fedko-class replenishment oilers and INS Kuthar, a Khukri-class corvette.

 

Eight other naval vessels have also been dispatched from the Visakhapatnam and Port Blair.  A submarine also has been tasked to check for underwater transmission from emergency beacon locator. The search operation is expected to continue through Friday night.