PTI, NEW DELHI: The wreckage of the AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force was spotted on Tuesday in a heavily forested mountainous terrain in Arunachal Pradesh, eight days after it went missing with 13 people on board after taking off from Assam’s Jorhat.
The IAF said efforts are on to establish the status of occupants amid fears of that chances of any survivor in the one of worst accidents involving a military platform in recent years may be very bleak.
“The wreckage of the aircraft was spotted today 16 kms North of Lipo, North East of Tato at an approximate elevation of 12,000 feet by an IAF Mi-17 helicopter undertaking search in the expanded search zone,” the IAF said in a statement.
“Efforts are now continuing to establish the status of occupants and establish survivors,” it said.
An IAF official said after identifying the wreckage of the AN 32, a Cheetah helicopter and an ALH chopper reached the crash site but could not land due to high elevation and dense forest.
“However, nearest landing site has been identified and the rescue operation by helicopters will commence tomorrow early morning. Ground forces will continue to reach the crash site during the night,” he said.
Another official said the IAF will send its special commandos ‘Garud’ to the crash site and carry out an exercise to look for possible survivors.
The Russian-origin AN-32 aircraft was going from Jorhat in Assam to Menchuka advanced landing ground near the border with China on June 3 when it lost contact with ground staff at 1 pm, within 33 minutes of taking off.
The IAF launched a massive operation after the aircraft went missing but the search was badly hit due to poor weather conditions.
