City
Epaper

AN-32 crash: Bodies of all 13 IAF personnel, black box retrieved

By ANI | Published: June 13, 2019 7:35 PM

The aircraft went missing on June 3 after taking off from Assam's Jorhat.

Open in App

A 15-member rescue team reached the crash site today morning. "The IAF is sad to inform that there are no survivors from the crash of AN-32," the Indian Air Force said in a tweet.

IAF officials said the team of mountaineers and Special Forces managed to recover the bodies of the 13 personnel from the densely forested mountainside where the plane went down.

The black box of the aircraft, which includes the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, has also been retrieved. An analysis of the black box data will allow the Air Force to establish the cause behind the crash, officials said.

A senior Air Marshal from the Eastern Air Command is monitoring the operations from the base camp.

"Helicopters would be used to ferry the bodies from the area," the officials said.

The 13 IAF personnel have been identified as Wing Commander GM Charles, Sqn Ldr H Vinod, Flt Lt R Thapa, Flt Lt A Tanwar, Flt Lt S Mohanty, Flt Lt MK Garg, Warrant Officer KK Mishra, Sergeant Anoop Kumar, Corporal Sherin, LAC SK Singh, LAC Pankaj, NC(E) Putali and NC(E) Rajesh Kumar.

The aircraft went missing on June 3 after taking off from Assam's Jorhat. It was headed towards Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Arunachal Pradesh when it lost contact with ground authorities at around 1300 hours.

The pictures for the crash site and the impact point of the AN-32 suggest that the aircraft had probably tried to clear a mountain top but failed to do so and crashed into it due to heavy cloud cover there.

The aircraft was found 15-20 kilometres north of its designated flight path. Despite a massive search operation, the plane could not be located for eight days due to bad weather and dense forest cover in the area.

( With inputs from ANI )

Tags: Special Forces
Open in App

Related Stories

NationalLok Sabha Election 2024: 17,000 Cops Deployed in Odisha to Ensure Smooth Polling

NationalSFF personnel killed in Sikkim after failed para jump

International21-day Indo-US joint exercise Vajra Prahar concludes in Himachal Pradesh

EntertainmentNick Zano, Shelley Hennig to star in Netflix's 'Obliterated'

NationalBengaluru: Gen Naravane presents Presidential Colours to four Para battalions

National Realted Stories

NationalSex video scandal: Prajwal Revanna sent to judicial custody till June 24

NationalDelhi HC grants injunction to Rajat Sharma against trademark infringement, restrains use of 'Baap Ki Adalat'

NationalGoa Forward Party writes to Chief Secretary demanding FIR against Smart City contractor

NationalFact Check: Mysterious Animal Spotted at Rashtrapati Bhavan Is Not a Leopard, Just a House Cat, Delhi Police Confirm

NationalUS-India defence ties has become a pillar of global peace: US Rear Admiral Michael Baker