As the massive search and rescue operation entered the fourth day on Thursday for the missing AN-32 aircraft with 13 IAF personnel on board, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met family members of some of them here and assured of all possible help. He had prayed for the safety of all the crew members on Monday when the plane went missing.
Even as weather is hampering the search operations, the IAF on Thursday widened the area of operation with ground forces of the Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) patrolling the thickly forested area to locate the missing plane feared to have crashed.
Besides two SU-30s and C-130J planes flying throughout the night for the past three days to locate the plane, the Navy has also deployed its P-8 I long range reconnaissance aircraft.
Two M-17 helicopters and two advanced light utility helicopters are also carrying out sorties and the Army on Thursday also stationed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), officials said here on Thursday.
The ill-fated AN-32 transport aircraft had taken off from Jorhat in Assam at 12.25 pm for Mechuka advanced landing ground in Arunachal Pradesh.
The plane lost radio contact at one pm and when it did not land at Mechuka at scheduled time of 1.25 pm, the IAF launched the search and rescue operation. The flying time between Jorhat and Mechuka is about 50 minutes and the distance is about 206 kms as the crow flies.
Mechuka advanced landing ground is the lifeline for troops deployed on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) facing China and the planes and helicopters ferry personnel, food and ammunition.
The advanced landing ground at a height of 6,000 feet is about 30 kms as the crow flies from the LAC and therefore is strategically very important. Incidentally, an AN-32 had crashed near Mechuka in June 2009 killing all 13 passengers.