Search operation for missing IAF plane continues, Manohar Parrikar to visit Chennai
More than 12 Navy and coast guard ships are looking for the aircraft in the Bay of Bengal. A submarine has also been diverted for the search.
There were 11 Air Force personnel, one Navy and two Army soldiers and a coast guard member on the AN-32 transport plane that took off from Tambaram airbase in Tamil Nadu and was headed for Port Blair. While flying at an altitude of 23,000 feet, it suddenly went off the radar at 9.12 am- 42 minutes after the take off.
The last call from the aircraft was around 16 minutes after take-off, when the pilot reported that "everything is normal".
"All efforts are being made to trace the missing plane and the service personnel on board," Parrikar said on Friday.
The Navy has also sent five surveillance aircraft including a Dornier, and 13 ships - Sahyadri, Rajput, Ranvijay, Kamorta, Kirch, Karmuk, Kora, Kuthar, Shakti, Jyoti, Ghariyal and Sukanya.
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