The massive search and rescue operation to locate the AN-32 transport aircraft of IAF with 29 personnel on board that went missing on Friday while flying from Chennai to Port Blair continued for the second day on Saturday. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar flew to Chennai to take stock of the operations and also had an aerial survey of the operation for two hours.
At present, 20 Navy and Coast Guard ships besides 10 aircraft of IAF, Navy and Coast Guard are engaged in trying to locate the plane in the Bay of Bengal. The ill-fated aircraft took off from Tambaram near Chennai at 8.30 am and had last radio contact with Tambaram air traffic control (ATC) at 8.46 am. It was scheduled to land at Port Blair at 11.30 am and when it did not do so, search operations were launched about 11.45 am.
The main focus of the operations in inclement weather and rough seas was on an area 150 nautical miles from Chennai as reports indicated that the radars had last tracked the aircraft there about 9.15 am on Friday, officials said here on Saturday. The twin-engine turbo-prop plane was flying at an altitude of 23,000 feet when it lost contact.
Moreover, the P-8I long range maritime reconnaissance planes of the Navy besides Dornier planes of Coast Guard were carrying out sorties ten nautical miles on either side of the flight path followed by the plane.
The distance between Chennai and Port Blair is 750 nautical miles (1,300 km). Some Navy and Coast Guard ships had reached four or five possible sites in the Bay of Bengal where the plane might have gone down, sources said. They also said all planes flying on this route have enough fuel to fly over the sea and land at alternate bases like Campbell Bay or Car Nicobar if Port Blair airport is not available for some reasons.
Meanwhile, personally monitoring the rescue efforts, Parrikar reviewed the utilisation of assets and resources to find the plane. He also instructed if need be more resources should be deployed for the search efforts.
Officials said the Minister was apprised of the difficult conditions under which operations were on in the last 24 hours. The sea is very rough and there is thick cloud cover in the area, sources said, adding he has directed all Commanders to be in touch with families and provide them information that may be required, they said.
Parrikar was briefed by the Air Force and the Navy in Tambaram IAF airbase. later, he boarded a P-8I from Arakkonam naval base 50 km from Chennai to monitor search and rescue operations being conducted in the Bay of Bengal. The Minister was briefed by Air Force and Naval personnel on board the P-8I as well. He later left for Arakkonam from where he was flown to the area where the search and rescue was undertaken jointly by the IAF, Navy and Coast Guard. IAF chief Arup Raha accompanied Parrikar.
Twenty-nine personnel on board the AN-32 included six crew members, two of them pilots and one navigator. Besides, there were 11 personnel from the IAF including a woman officer, two from the Army, one from the Coast Guard and nine from the Navy.
Incidentally, the missing aircraft had detected three technical snags earlier this month despite undergoing a life-extension and upgrade in September last year. However, officials said the snags were minor in nature and added no aircraft is allowed to fly without being declared completely airworthy.
At present, IAF has over 100 AN-32s often known as ‘workhorse’ as they maintain logistical lines of the Army in remote corners and far flung posts be it North-East or mountainous terrain of ladakh. The last mishap involving AN-32 was in 2009 when at least 13 personnel died after a crash. The Russian built planes were inducted into IAF in mid 1980s.