An Indian Air Force transport aircraft with 13 personnel on board has gone missing in Arunachal Pradesh after it took-off from Assam’s Jorhat on Monday afternoon.
The aircraft took off from Jorhat at 12.25 pm and was headed for Menchuka Advance Landing Ground (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh. The last contact between the aircraft and ground agencies took place at 1 pm.
Seven Air Force officers and six air warriors were on board the Antonov An-32.
ALSO READ: Amid uproar over Hindi imposition, govt alters draft education policy
Indian Air Force has deployed all available resources, including Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft and C-130 Special Operations aircraft, on a search mission for locating the missing aircraft.
The IAF has also launched ground troops for search operations.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed concern and wished safety for all the passengers aboard the missing aircraft.
Spoke to Vice Chief of @IAF_MCC, Air Marshal Rakesh Singh Bhadauria regarding the missing IAF AN-32 Aircraft which is overdue for some hours.
He has apprised me of the steps taken by the IAF to find the missing aircraft. I pray for the safety of all passengers on board.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) June 3, 2019
The Soviet-era aircraft was inducted into the Air Force in the 1980s and has been undergoing upgrades. The missing plane is not part of the upgraded An-32 fleet of the Air Force.
Three years ago, on July 22, 2016, an An-32 aircraft of the IAF had gone missing in the air with 29 people on board. The aircraft was traveling from Chennai to Port-Blair in Andaman and Nicobar when it went missing over the Bay of Bengal.
(With ANI inputs)