Wreckage of missing Air Force plane AN-32 found in Arunachal after 8 days
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 11
Ending eight days of difficult search, pilots of an Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter on Tuesday located the wreckage of the AN-32 transport aircraft missing since June 3.
Now starts the tough part of locating any survivor or establishing if all 13 on board perished in the crash. Mountaineering teams of the Army and the IAF have been formed, which will be heli-dropped tomorrow at the site. Also, the flight data recorder will have to be recovered to establish the cause of mishap.
The wreckage was spotted 16 km north of Lipo, north-east of Tato, at an elevation of 12,000 feet, the IAF said. The AN-32 went missing after taking off from Jorhat in Assam on way to Mechuka advanced landing ground in Arunachal Pradesh.
The crash site indicates that the plane was on the flight path towards Mechuka. The wreckage was identified by the aircraft’s tail number.
The IAF said efforts were now continuing to establish the “status of occupants and establish survivors”. Survivors, if any, would have faced the daunting challenges of high-altitude, cold and rainy weather, wild animals and lack of food.
The AN-32’s disappearance led to a massive aerial search involving helicopters, Sukho-is, C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, Navy’s P-8i aircraft and night missions by unmanned aerial vehicles. Sensors were put to use and ground search teams involved 1,500 soldiers, besides policemen and locals.
10 planes down, It’s the worst year for IAF
- 2019 has been one of the worst years for IAF as it has lost 10 aircraft in 9 incidents in which its 23 men died
- A Mirage 2000 crashed in Bengaluru in February; two pilots died
- Days later while rehearsing for Aero India, two Hawk aircraft collided, killing a pilot
- Again in February, a Mi-17V5 helicopter was shot down near Srinagar, in what appeared to be “friendly fire”, killing seven persons, including one on the ground
- A MiG-21 was shot down in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir
- In January, a Jaguar crashed after take-off from Gorakhpur
- In February, a MiG-27 crashed in Pokhran, Rajasthan; pilots ejected
- In March, another MiG-27 went down in Sirohi, Rajasthan
Palwal village still clinging to hope
Palwal: No update on the 13 passengers on board AN-32 aircraft, but the family of pilot Ashish Tanwar won’t give up hope. “My Ashish is alive and may be waiting to be rescued. They should step up search operations,” says missing pilot’s
mother Saroj. “The entire village is praying for his safe return. We want the Army to speed up operations so that our son and others with him are traced at the earliest. Every minute of uncertainty is killing,” says Tanwar’s uncle Om Veer. TNS
The wreckage of the missing was spotted today 16 Kms North of Lipo, North East of Tato at an approximate elevation of 12000 ft by the Mi-17 Helicopter undertaking search in the expanded search zone..
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC)
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