IAF's An-32 aircraft with 13 onboard goes missing, search to continue overnight

Guwahati, June 03: Indian Air Force (IAF)'s An-32 transport aircraft with 13 people onboard had reportedly gone missing after taking off from Jorhat in Assam.

The plane was enroute Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground located in Mechuka Valley in Arunachal Pradesh.

Of the 13 people on board, eight are crew mebers and five are passengers.

The plane's last contact with ground was at 1 pm today.

According to news agency ANI, a Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft and C-130 Special Operations aircraft are searching for AN-32.

The aircraft took off from Jorhat air base at 12.25 pm and was last contacted by ground agencies at 1 pm following which contact was lost, News18 reported quoting sources. The plane was in contact with ground agencies for the next 35 minutes, but lost contact after 1 pm.

Newly appointed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took to Twitter to share that he is keeping track of the situation.

Spoke to Vice Chief of @IAF_MCC, Air Marshal Rakesh Singh Bhadauria regarding the missing IAF AN-32 Aircraft which is overdue for some hours.

He has apprised me of the steps taken by the IAF to find the missing aircraft. I pray for the safety of all passengers on board.

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) June 3, 2019

In February 2018, a Sukhoi had gone missing after taking off from the Tezpur Salonibari Air Force station in Assam. The fighter was on a routine training sortie.