Missing IAF AN-32: Ship finds 75 pieces of debris 200 nautical miles off Chennai
A Geological Survey of India ship found some wreckage, suspected to be parts of missing IAF AN-32 plane at the bottom of the Bay of Bengal off Chennai coast.
In Short
- A GSI ship found 75 linear pieces of debris in Bay of Bengal.
- Wreckage was found 200 nautical miles off Chennai coast.
- AN-32 was on a routine courier flight when it went missing.
In search of the missing Indian Air Force AN-32 plane, a Geological Survey of India's ship has spotted 75 pieces of debris about 200 nautical miles off Chennai coast. The pieces of debris are suspected to be part of the ill fated IAF plane.
The GSI has said that the pieces were spotted by the camera installed on the ship, Sagar Nidhi. These pieces are only images and these could be anything including the parts of the missing plane. The truth could only be established after analyzing these pieces in laboratory, said the GSI.
THE MISSING PLANE
Exactly one month ago on July 22, IAF AN-32 plane took off from Tambaram air base near Chennai on a routine courier flight to Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A total of 29 people including six crew members were on-board. The flight took off around 8.30 am and disappeared from the radars at 9.00 am. It never reached the destination.
The weather was overcast when the plane disappeared from the radars. The pilot had asked for a little deviation from the route to avoid multi-layered cloud before it went missing.
Several search and rescue teams were sent since then. Various teams of Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Coast Guard and GSI are involved with search operation. The missing plane did not have an underground locator system, making it difficult for the search teams.
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