IAF ,Navy,Coast Guard intensify search operations for missing AN-32 turboprop courier aircraft
New Delhi July 23:The Russian-origin aircraft IAF AN-32 on a courier flight from Tambaram to Port Blair in the Andaman islands is still missing in the Bay of Bengal, 300 miles east of Chennai. Elaborate search and rescue operations have been launched jointly by the Navy, IAF and Coast Guard.No debris of the missing plane has been found.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar assuring that all efforts are being made to trace the aircraft and 29 missing on board.
The aircraft, which had fuel to fly for around four hours and 15 minutes, had its last radio communication at 8.45 am.
It was last seen on radar at 9:12 am,as it left the Secondary Surveillance Radar(SSR) range.
The AN-32 has been a trustworthy addition for the IAF .
It is designed to be extensively used in air services.
The service ceiling of this turboprop aircraft is 31,000 ft, which means that it flies lower than most commercial jet liners (which have a service ceiling of 40,000 ft) and also flies slower with a cruising speed of 470 kmph.
This gives lesser room for AN-32 to outrun bad weather or climb over it.
The last known transmission of the plane was at 151 nautical miles east of Chennai.
The AN-32, sources said, was “then observed to have carried out a left turn with rapid loss of height from 23,000 feet”.
The Indian Navy has left no stone unturned for the rescue operations.The Navy has deployed two P8i Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft, two Dornier aircraft and 12 ships with helicopters in the area to locate the missing plane.
It has also diverted a submarine at sea for locating transmissions from the emergency locator beacon on board the aircraft.
The IAF has employed one C130J and one AN-32 aircraft, while the Coast Guard has deployed CGS Sagar and one Dornier aircraft to locate the missing plane.
One of crew in the missing aircraft is Flight Lt Deepika, a lady officer of the IAF. She was on her way to Port Blair to join her husband who is a Coast Guard officer.
The aircraft has encountered technical snags previously.
On July 14, the aircraft suffered a pressure leak from the port door.
On July 7, a hydraulic leak from Port Wing Root and on July 2, a throttle movement was sluggish.
The Antonov An-32 is a tactical transport aircraft used by the Indian Air Force and have been in service since 1984.
All AN-32s are scheduled to be upgraded by 2016, before being eventually replaced by the Indo-Russian Multi-role transport aircraft Il-214, that is being jointly developed by United Aircraft Corporation of Russia and HAL, and is expected to fly in 2018.
