Wreckage of a SU-30 fighter jet, which went missing on Tuesday, was sighted on Friday 68 km north west of Tezpur in Assam. The rescue teams, however, are not able to reach the site due to bad
weather even as fate of two pilots on board the aircraft is still not known. The IAF has ordered the mandatory court of enquiry to find the cause of mishap.
The jet had taken off from Tezpur on Tuesday morning for a routine sortie and lost radio and radar contact nearly 65 km north-west of the Tezpur. The IAF immediately launched rescue missions using C-130 J transport planes and helicopters but the efforts were hit by incessant bad weather. The wreckage of the plane was finally sighted from air on Friday morning, IAF officials said here.
Rescue teams of the Army and local police were now waiting to be airlifted to the crash site as the areas is inaccessible but inclement weather prevented helicopter flying, they said adding the mission will commence as soon as weather clears.
The Army teams trekking across the rough terrain also could not reach the area due to weather, thick vegetation and steep gradient of terrain.
This is the seventh crash involving SU-30 since they were inducted into the IAF as frontline fighter jets in 2002. The last mishap was reported in March this year in Rajasthan. The IAF, at present, has 270 SU-30s in its inventory.