Aviation experts fear the worst for the missing Dornier aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) even as a massive search operation was underway in the Bay of Bengal region. According to a communique issued by the ICG, the Dornier aircraft (CG 791) went missing four hours after it took off from the Coast Guard Air Station in Chennai at 5 pm on Monday with a three-member crew. The crew consisted of two experienced pilots and a navigator.
The aircraft was on a surveillance duty as part of the Operation Hamla launched by ICG, Indian Navy and Tamil Nadu Police to check the preparedness and efficacy of the security agencies manning the eastern coast of the country.
The Dornier aircraft, inducted into the CG in 2014, lost contact with the Chennai airport around 9 pm on Monday. The Tiruchirapalli Radar picked up signals from the aircraft at 9.23pm when it was 95 nautical miles south off Chennai. Ships, aircraft and helicopters have been pressed into service since then.
A Press brief released by the Indian Coast Guard said, “All available surface and aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy, six Coast Guard ships, four Naval ships along with long range maritime surveillance aircraft P-81 are undertaking the SAR operation.”
Those with hours of flying experience in Dornier aircraft say that aircraft in all likelihood has crashed and fallen into the sea. “Dornier is a high endurance aircraft with low ranges. It cannot keep on flying for hours together. Chances are that it would have fallen into the sea,” an aeronautic engineer with considerable experience with the Indian Air Force told The Pioneer.
The commandant of the Coast Guard had told media persons Monday night that the aircraft had fuel only for two hours of flying. Dornier aircraft are manufactured for the IAF and the IN by the HAl under license from Dornier GmbH in Germany.
In March 2015, a Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy crashed in the Arabian Sea off Goa coast killing two crew members while the third member had a providential escape.