NEW DELHI – Indian satellites, Military surveillance planes fail to locatemissing Indian Air Force jet.
Indian Air Force’s transport aircraft AN-32 with 13 air warriors on boardhas been missing since Monday (June 3) 1 pm. Air Marshal RD Mathur, the AirOfficer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Air Command, visited Assam’s JorhatAir Force Station on Tuesday to inquire about the search and rescue (SAR)operations to locate the AN-32. Accompanied by his wife Shipra Mathur, theAir Marshal also met the families of those on board the missing plane.
The officer was briefed about the coordinated effort by the India Army, IAFand civil agencies to locate the plane which took off from Jorhat AFS forMechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Arunachal Pradesh. There were 13 IAFpersonnel, eight crew and five passengers on board the aircraft. IAFofficials said the missing AN-32 was partially upgraded.
Apart from the Army, IAF, Indo-Tibetan Police Force and civil authorities,the Indian Navy has also joined the search operation. The Navy’s Long RangeMaritime Reconnaissance aircraft P8i aircraft took off at 1 pm on Tuesdayfrom INS Rajali at Arakonam in Tamil Nadu to look for the missing plane.
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The Navy spokesperson tweeted that P8i aircraft’s powerful SyntheticAperture Radar shall be utilised during the SAR sweeps to locate themissing plane. “The aircraft shall carry out a search with the ElectroOptical and Infra Red (EO & IR) sensors in the thickly forested areas ofArunachal Pradesh where the aircraft was last located before it lostcontact with the ground stations.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) satellites have also been pressedinto service over parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to help in locatingthe missing transport aircraft. Indian Army’s ground patrols of Indian Armyalong with IAF C130 J super Hercules and Su-30 MKI fighters are alsosweeping the area where the AN-32 was last located.
