IAF AN-32 Aircraft Missing

Indian Air Force’s AN-32 transport aircraft goes missing after taking off from Jorhat in Assam. The airborne aircraft had total 13 people on board including eight aircrew and five passengers.

Key Highlights

• AN-32 aircraft got airborne on 3 June from Jorhat at 12:27 p.m. for Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground (only 29 kms from the China border), in Mechuka Valley in West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh. It last contacted ground agencies at around 1:00 p.m. after that there has been was no contact with the aircraft.
• Since the aircraft lost the contact and did not reach the destination also Indian Air Force initiated overdue actions.

Search Operation:

• C 130J Super Hercules aircraft, AN-32 military transport aircraft, two Mi-17 (medium twin-turbine transport helicopter)of Indian Air Force (IAF) and ALH (Advanced Light Helicopters) helicopter of Indian Army were launched to locate the missing aircraft.
• Helicopters were routed to the location after some ground reports were received about possible location of a crash site however no wreckage has been sighted so far.
• IAF is in continuous coordination with Indian Army and with various government and civil agencies to locate the missing aircraft.
• The Search operation to locate the missing IAF AN-32 aircraft is underway with operation from air by IAF and by ground parties of Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

About Anton AN-32

• It is a tactical transport aircraft and is an extensive used by Indian Air Force (IAF).
• It has been in service since 1984 and has been a trustworthy workhorse for the IAF for many years.
• Specification: As the service ceiling of Antonov An-32 turboprop aircraft is 31,000ft so it flies lower and slower (with a cruising speed of 470 kmph) than most commercial jetliners (which have a service ceiling of 40,000ft), thus this gives lesser room for the An-32 to outrun bad weather or climb over it.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2019