Itanagar: The wreckage of an Indian Air Force aircraft, which disappeared with 13 defence personnel on Tuesday, was found at a village in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday.
All aboard the AN-32 transport aircraft feared to have died when the plane crashed over Rinchi Hill above Heyo village, which is located closed to China border, said police.
A wireless message received at the Superintendent of Police’s office at district headquarters Aalo, confirmed the recovery of the wreckage, there was no word about any recovery of human remains.
The aircraft was on a routine food supply sortie and was carrying seven IAF personnel and six army personnel, said an Indian Air Force (IAF) spokesperson.
The wireless message sent by the officer in-charge of Mechuka police station said two search parties of the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police left for the village on Wednesday morning.
Among the IAF men on board were two wing commanders, two squadron leaders and a flight lieutenant. The plane had taken off from the Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh to Jorhat in Assam at around 2 pm yesterday after which it went missing.
The AN-32, belonging to Rowriah air base in Jorhat, had started its sortie from Mohanbari in upper Assam's Dibrugarh district and had carried essential commodities to the army base near Mecheka.
Bad weather had hampered the search operations as an IAF helicopter -- MI 17 -- had to return from the Mechuka-Jorhat route and the operation was suspended for sometime.
This afternoon, another helicopter left for the area, Defence spokesperson Wing Commander Ranjib Sahoo said at the IAF Eastern Command Headquarters in Shillong.
The aircraft was scheduled to reach Jorhat at about 3.30 pm, but it did not respond to Air Traffic Control, Sahoo said.
The IAF conducted an air reconnaissance yesterday afternoon in the Arunachal hills, but could not locate it nor found any wreckage, the spokesman said.
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