An Indian Air Force (IAF) An-32 transport aircraft with 13 personnel went missing over Arunachal Pradesh on Monday. It got airborne from Jorhat in Assam at 1227 hrs for the Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh.

“The aircraft last contacted ground agencies around 1300 hrs. Since it did not reach the destination, overdue actions have been initiated,” the IAF said in a statement.

The aircraft had eight crew members and five others onboard. Massive efforts were on to locate it. The IAF has deployed C-130J and An-32 and Mi-17 helicopters in the search mission and the Army has put in use an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).

Some ground reports were received on the possible location of a crash site and helicopters were routed to the location. “However, no wreckage has been sighted so far,” the IAF stated.

Soon after missing reports came in, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal RS Bhadauria. “He has apprised me of the steps taken to find the missing aircraft. I pray for the safety of all passengers on board,” Mr. Singh said in a tweet.

The IAF is coordinating with the Army, as well as various government and civil agencies, to locate the aircraft. “Search operations will continue from air and by ground parties of the Army through the night,” the IAF said.

Workhorse of IAF

Medium transporter An-32 is the workhorse of the IAF and it operates around 105 of them. They are in the process of being upgraded.

In 2009, India finalised a plan for a major upgrade and life-extension of up to 40 years for the entire fleet of An-32 under a $400-million deal with Ukraine. So far, 46 aircraft have been upgraded, of which 40 were handled in Ukraine.

A decade back, in June 2009, an An-32 on a routine sortie involving 13 personnel crashed near Tato village close to the Mechuka ALG. Seven of these personnel were from the IAF and the rest from the Army.

In July 2016, an An-32 on a routine weekly courier flight from Chennai to Port Blair, carrying 23 personnel and six crew, went missing after take-off. So far, it has not been traced.