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Endless search for Dornier aircraft

Inspector General S.P. Sharmadescribed the three missing crew members as a priced possession

Chennai: It’s been a month since the Dornier aircraft of the Coast Guard, with three officers onboard, went missing off the coast of Chidambaram, after taking off from Chennai for a routine surveillance sortie over the Palk Bay.Even as the massive search operation is underway for the missing aircraft and its personnel, Inspector General S.P. Sharma, eastern region commander of Coast Guard, described the three missing crew members as a ‘priced possession’. “They were one of the finest aircrew with enough experience in terms of flying hours between them. In fact, one of them (Deputy Commandant MK. Soni) is a qualified navigational instructor,” he said.

When asked about the morale of the Coast Guard personnel, who were colleagues of the three, Inspector General Sharma said, “We are missing them (the three), but my staff remain ever committed to serve the nation.” The three officers on the ill-fated flight were Deputy Commandant Subhash Suresh, Deputy Commandant M.K. Soni and Deputy Commandant Vidyasagar. Later, while addressing a press conference at the Coast Guard regional headquarters here, Inspector General S.P. Sharma, said ‘Operation Talash’, as the search process for the missing coast guard aircraft CG- 791 is now called, is as an unprecedented search undertaking in India’s history in terms of the massive deployment of forces, but will continue further.

“Based on the certain signals picked by a naval submarine in the region (21.6 kilometers off the shoreline of Pichavaram), we have again sought the services of MV Olympic Canyon (a chartered vessel of Reliance Industries) which possess two remotely operated vessels capable of venturing to 3,000 metres under ocean. The ship is expected to arrive on Thursday afternoon,” he said. Another vessel of National Institute of Ocean Technology, Sagar Manjusha is also expected at the search area by Friday. The main challenge, the regional commander added, was the steep depth in the ocean surface, which can go from 500 metres to 3,000 metres within a few kilometers.

Responding to questions over the validity of aircraft’s signal emitting beacon, he said, “We have been in contact with the America based manufacturer of the Beacon and they have assured that the minimum validity is one month. However, there is every possibility that signal strength getting feeble.” Technical assistance has been sought from maritime agencies based in USA, Japan, Canada and Australia over the flight’s missing.

Rahul Gandhi likely to meet distraught family

Understandably, the family members of the missing personnel are seeking a confirmation about the flight occupants’ whereabouts. While they are being briefed about the search operations on a regular basis, it has been an emotionally tough time for them.

Speaking to DC, Suresh, father of Deputy Commandant Subhash, a Chennai Port employee, said even though he had resumed work, his and family members thoughts were always on their loved one. “It has been a month since his flight went missing, but we haven’t recovered from that initial shock.”

Even though the families had written to the Prime Minister and the Defence Ministry for expediting the search operations, Suresh said, “It was up to the administration to take note of our grief and act accordingly, as they (families) can only ask them to do so.”

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday came out in support of the family of the three Coast Guard officials who are missing after their aircraft crashed a month ago. “One month on still no trace of missing #ICGDornier &its brave crew. My prayers are with the families,” Rahul, who is likely to meet the distraught family soon, tweeted.

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