Missing AN-32 aircraft: Wreckage of IAF plane spotted in Arunachal Pradesh after 8 days

The wreckage of the AN-32 aircraft of The Indian Air Force (IAF) that went missing on June 3 has finally been spotted. A team of Indian Air Force (IAF) officials found the debris at 16kms North of Lipo and North-East of Tato at an approximate elevation of 12,000 ft in Arunachal Pradesh.

In a statement on Twitter, IAF said, "The wreckage of the missing #An32 was spotted today 16 Kms North of Lipo, North East of Tato at an approximate elevation of 12000 ft by the #IAF Mi-17 Helicopter undertaking search in the expanded search zone."

The wreckage of the missing #An32 was spotted today 16 Kms North of Lipo, North East of Tato at an approximate elevation of 12000 ft by the #IAF Mi-17 Helicopter undertaking search in the expanded search zone..

- Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) June 11, 2019

IAF, however, makes no mention about the status of the 13 occupants. It added that the efforts are still underway to find the survivors.

The Soviet-origin twin-engine turboprop Antonov-32 military transport plane was carrying 13 passengers from Assam's Jorhat to a remote base in Arunachal Pradesh when it went missing at around 12:25 pm, half an hour after it took off.

The exact location (in circle) North East of Tato, Arunachal Pradesh where the wreckage of IAF's AN-32 aircraft was spotted.

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IAF had launched a massive search operation hours after the aircraft went missing. However, there were delays due to poor weather conditions even as ground troops continued to comb the mountainous area for days. 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.

The IAF on Saturday announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh to anyone providing information about location of the AN-32 transport aircraft.

Edited By: Udit Verma

Also Read: Missing in action: Why Antonov AN-32 is India's most troubled aircraft

Also Read: Indian Air Force announces Rs 5 lakh reward for information on missing AN-32 aircraft