Wreckage of IAF Sukhoi spotted in Assam, pilots still missing

The search and rescue team finally on Friday spotted the wreckage of IAF Su-30 MKI jet that had gone missing on May 23. There is still no news on the whereabouts of the two pilots, they are still missing.

The wreckage of the fighter jet was found in the thick forest around 60 Kms from Tezpur, Assam where it lost radar contact with the base, a release from MoD read. The search teams were airlifted to the crash site as the area is totally inaccessible. The team then has to trek cross country to reach the site. However, their progress is hampered due to inclement weather, thick vegetation and steep gradient of the terrain, the statement said.

The search parties will look for flight data recorder and missing crew after they reach the crash site. Both IAF and Army have deployed their search teams. 

The Su-30 aircraft took off around 1030 hours on 23 May and had gone off the radar and lost radio contact around 1110 hours when aircraft was around 60 Kms from Tezpur. The aircraft was on a routine training mission as part of a two-aircraft formation.

The aircraft was declared overdue and Search and Rescue operations were launched to locate the aircraft and the pilots. Help from civil administration and military authorities was also sought to locate the aircraft. Aerial search was commenced based on the last known position of the Su-30 MKI. Incessant rain and dense clouds hampered the search operations in air and on the ground. Search parties of IAF and Army set out to the area where the aircraft was declared missing. A court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident. 

One of the two pilots of Indian Air Force's Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet, which went missing in Assam on Tuesday, is a native of Kozhikode, it has emerged. 

Flight Lieutenant Achudev is a native of Pantheerankavu in Kozhikode and is the son of Sahadevan and Jayasree from Vallikunnuparambil. Sahadevan is a retired ISRO employee, and the family currently resides in Thiruvananthapuram.

The distressed parents have left for the IAF base in Tezpur after they were informed that their son is missing. The other pilot is a squadron leader from north India. No breakthrough has been made in locating the pilots till now.

The first batch of the Russia-made fighter jet was inducted by the IAF in the late 1990s. Since then seven of them have crashed. Tezpur is one of the three IAF air bases in the country that host the Sukhois.

• IAF Sukhoi