Parrikar monitors ops as 8 aircraft, 13 ships continue search for IAF plane
New Delhi: The search for the AN-32 aircraft that has been missing over the Bay of Bengal with 29 on board was on Saturday on in full swing even as Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar reached Chennai to monitor the massive search operation.
"Reached Tambaram to monitor operations on IAF AN-32 aircraft," Parrikar tweeted upon his arrival at the suburban airforce here.
Reached Tambaram to monitor operations on IAF AN 32 aircraft.
— Manohar Parrikar (@manoharparrikar) July 23, 2016
Defence sources said the search is in full swing and no detection has been made till now.
Parrikar will receive a detailed briefing on the entire operations, the sources said.The operation is being managed by the Eastern Naval Command. Navy and Coast Guard have deployed one submarine, eight aircraft and 13 ships for tracking the upgraded plane. The search will be widened to 75x75 nautical miles.
The transport plane of the Indian Air Force with 29 people on board, including four officers, went missing on Friday while flying from Chennai to Port Blair. No SOS or Mayday signal was sent from the plane, said sources.
A massive search and rescue operation has been launched by IAF.
The AN-32 aircraft took off at 0830 hours from Tambaram in Chennai and the last contact with it was made 16 minutes later.
The aircraft can fly for up to four hours without refuelling.
The 29 people on board the Air Force's workhorse for a long period included six crew members, two of them pilots and one navigator. Besides, there were 11 personnel from the IAF including an officer, two from the Army, one from the Coast Guard and 9 from the navy which included some from its armament depot.
