India keeps 3 ships, jet ready for rescue ops

TNS & Agencies

New Delhi, December 28

The Indian Navy has kept a surveillance aircraft and three ships ready as an AirAsia flight with 162 people on board Sunday went missing en route from Indonesia to Singapore.

Singapore, Malaysia, Britain, South Korea and Australia have also offered to help in the search and any investigation. Malaysia said it was sending vessels and a C130 aircraft while Singapore had also sent a C130. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said a P3 Orion aircraft was on standby if needed.

The US National Transportation Safety Board is monitoring the situation with missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 and is prepared to assist Indonesian authorities if needed, a spokesman for the agency, which investigates major transportation accidents, said on Sunday.

“The Indian Navy has kept one Boeing P8I on standby at INS Rajali (Tamil Nadu) and three ships ready for search and rescue operations for the Air Asia flight which has been reported missing since this morning (Sunday),” a navy official said.

These assets were ready in all respects for deployment should there be orders from the Indian government to join in the search for the missing airliner, he said.

Two of these ships are located in Andaman Islands while the Boeing’s plane can fly long distances. The naval assets were deployed earlier this year also when the Malaysian airliner went missing.

So far there has been no deployment but the Navy has readied itself in anticipation to join in the search for the Air Asia plane.