Badlega India
An Indian Air Force (IAF) plane with 29 people on board has gone missing over the Bay of Bengal amid harsh weather.
The IAF’s AN-32 plane took off from Tambaram in Chennai for Port Blair in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands when it lost radar contact around 8:45 am today. Its estimated time of arrival in Port Blair was 11.30 am.
The Navy, the Coast Guard and the IAF have launched a joint search and rescue operation of the 29 people on board, including six crew members.
More than 12 Navy and Coast Guard ships are looking for the aircraft in the Bay of Bengal. A submarine has also been diverted to the area, reported NDTV.
The Navy has involved a P8I aircraft and a Donier aircraft, and four ships — Karmukh, Gharial, Jyoti and Kuthar - for its search operation.
According to HT, The last call from the aircraft was around 16 minutes after take-off, when the pilot reported that “everything is normal.”
The aircraft can fly for up to four hours without refuelling.
Air traffic control sources at Chennai airport said that the aircraft usually flies at 21,000 to 23,000 feet level which is much lower than civil aircraft altitude. It carries supplies for the defense base in Andaman daily.
“Routine military movements are not closely tracked because such planes fly well below the altitude of commercial carriers over the sea. The flight often goes off contact on radar after it crosses 150 miles away from Chennai because the signal strength is poor and it may not be equipped with modern tracking system. Pilot will be in touch with voice communication if needed. Its absence will be known only when it does not show up at a particular place under the range of Port Blair or before,” an air traffic control source said.
There are more than 100 Russian-made AN-32s in service with the IAF. It is an aircraft that can fly for up to four hours without refueling and operate in all weather conditions.
“These aircraft are very strong, they are used as supply planes for mountains and deserts,” said retired Air Force officer Praful Bakshi.
