Published 13:34 IST, June 13th 2019
Tragic: No survivors in AN-32 crash, confirms IAF after search team reaches crash site in Arunachal Pradesh
The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday tragically confirmed that there were no survivors from the crashed AN-32 that had gone missing on June 3 with 13 persons onboard.
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The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday tragically confirmed that there were no survivors from the crashed AN-32 that had gone missing on June 3 with 13 persons onboard.
Taking to Twitter, the IAF wrote that eight of its members had reached the crash site in Arunachal Pradesh's Siang district on Thursday morning, and that there were no survivors. The IAF has listed the names of the martyred Air Warriors:
- W/C GM Charles
- S/L H Vinod
- F/L R Thapa
- F/L A Tanwar
- F/L S Mohanty
- F/L MK Garg
- WO KK Mishra
- Sgt Anoop Kumar
- Cpl Sherin
- LAC SK Singh
- LAC Pankaj
- NC(E) Putali
- NC(E) Rajesh Kumar
On Tuesday, the AN-32's debris was located which confirmed that the aircraft had crashed. The finding came after 8 days of relentless search, following contact with the transport aircraft being lost shortly after it took off from Jorhat. The debris was spotted at least 16 km north of Lipo and north-east of Tapo at an elevation of 12,000 ft. The crash site was located by an IAF Mi-17 helicopter which was engaged in the search operations.
On Wednesday, the Air Force had air-dropped personnel and set up a camp near the crash site for the search party teams:
In a bid to search for the missing aircraft, the IAF mobilized every possible asset at its disposal. Light helicopters like Cheetah and UAV drones were also a part of the intensified search operation. Other military arms including the Indian Navy and Indian Army, as well as police and locals took part in the search operations which were ably assisted by the government of Arunachal Pradesh, with the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary overseeing operations themselves.
13:34 IST, June 13th 2019