New Delhi,June 13: There were no survivors in the crash of its An-32 aircraft, wreckage of which was found in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday, Indian Air Force has confirmed.
An 8-member team of rescuers was airlifted on Wednesday close to the crash site of the IAF’s An-32 aircraft in Arunachal Pradesh to look for possible survivors.
The wreckage of the An-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force was spotted in a heavily forested mountainous terrain by an IAF Mi-17 helicopter, eight days after it went missing with 13 people on board on June 3.
Paying tribute to those who lost their life in the An-32 crash, Indian Air Force said it stands by with families of the victims.
After operation was hit due to bad weather and difficult terrain, the team finally reached the crash site on Thursday morning.
The nine personnel from IAF’s mountaineering team, four from the Army and two civilian mountaineers were dispatched a day after the wreckage of the aircraft was located by an IAF Mi-17 helicopter at a height of 12,000 ft near Gatte village on the border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts in Arunachal Pradesh following an eight-day-long, muti-agency search.
The area is thickly forested and has been receiving heavy rains since the last three days, according to local officials.
WHEN An-32 WENT MISSING
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.
A total of eight aircrew and five passengers were on board the aircraft.
The An-32 is a twin-engine turboprop transport aircraft and the IAF currently operates a sizeable number of it.
The IAF had launched a massive operation to trace the missing aircraft but the search was badly hit by poor weather conditions.
The assets deployed for the operation included Sukhoi-30 aircraft in addition to a fleet of C-130J and An-32 planes and Mi-17 and ALH helicopters. The ground forces included troops from the Army, Indo Tibetan Border Police and state police.
