ISRO satellites being used to find IAF AN-32 aircraft

New Delhi [India], June 4 (ANI): ISRO satellites are also being used for photographing the area where IAF aircraft AN-32 went missing which will be analysed and used for search operations, Group Captain Anupam Banerjee, IAF said.
"We have used our aircrafts - MI 17, ALH and Sukhoi 30 - to find the AN-32 aircraft. Indian army personnel have joined in the search operations. The Indian Navy has given its P8I aircraft. The area has thick vegetation and is thus a challenge to find the aircraft. ISRO satellites are also being used for mapping this area," said Banerjee.
Detailing about the aircraft, he said, "On Monday afternoon at about 12.25 pm, one AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force got air-borne from Jorhat airbase on a routine mission. The aircraft was in contact with the ground and the last call was given at 12.55 pm. After some time there was no radar pickup on the aircraft."
"When the aircraft didn't land, as per procedure IAF launched overdue action in which search helicopters were sent to search the aircraft," he added.
"Next of kin of all the missing personnel have been informed about the search effort. We are in constant touch with them," he said.
The Antonov AN-32 with 13 personnel including seven officers and six air warriors on board went missing in Arunachal Pradesh after getting air-borne from Assam's Jorhat.
The aircraft took off from Jorhat at 12:25 pm and was headed for Menchuka Advance Landing Ground (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh near China border. The last contact between the aircraft and ground agencies took place at 1 pm on Monday.
The Soviet-era aircraft was inducted in the Air Force in the 1980s and have been undergoing upgrades. The missing plane is not part of the upgraded AN-32 fleet of the Air Force.
Three years ago, on July 22, 2016, an airborne AN-32 aircraft had gone missing with 29 people on board. The aircraft was travelling from Chennai to Port-Blair in Andaman and Nicobar when it went missing over the Bay of Bengal. (ANI)