India Air Force Plane With 29 Onboard Goes Missing, Massive Search Operation Launched

An Indian Air Force AN-32 plane with 29 people onboard goes missing over the Bay of Bengal between an inclement weather.

The IAF plane carrying mostly service personnel took off from Tambaram in Chennai at around 8.30 am. 15 minutes after the takeoff, the flight lost its radar contact. It was on its way to Port Blair in Andaman & Nicobar islands, where the estimated arrival time was 11.30 am.

Soon after the news broke, the Navy launched a massive search operation with the Coast Guard and IAF. The Navy has involved one surveillance P8I aircraft and one Donier aircraft and four ships — Karmukh, Gharial, Jyoti and Kuthar – for its search operation.

The plane has an emergency beacon locator, which usually gets activated if there is a crash. The AN-32 plane can fly for up to four hours without refuelling.