All 13 People On Board Dead In AN-32 Crash, Confirms Indian Air Force
All 13 people on board the AN-32 aircraft, which crashed in Arunachal Pradesh are dead, says Indian Air Force.
All 13 people on board the AN-32 aircraft, which crashed in Arunachal Pradesh are dead, the Indian Air Force confirmed after a team of rescuers searched the wreckage of the plane in a heavily forested mountainous terrain on Thursday.
"IAF pays tribute to the brave Air-warriors who lost their life during the AN-32 crash on 03 June 2019 and stands by with the families of the victims. May their soul rest in peace," an Indian Air Force (IAF) spokesperson said.
Those who died in the crash are Wing Commander GM Charles, Squadron Leader H Vinod, Flight Lieutenants LR Thapa, MK Garg, Ashish Tanwar and Sumit Mohanty, Warrant officer KK Mishra, Sergeant Anoop Kumar, Corporal Sherin, Leading Aircraft Man SK Singh, LAC Pankaj, and non combatants Rajesh Kumar and Putali.
The Russian-origin AN-32 aircraft was going from Jorhat in Assam to Menchuka advanced landing ground near the border with China on June 3 when it lost contact around half-an-hour after taking off.
The wreckage of the plane was spotted by an IAF chopper on Tuesday at a height of 12,000 ft near Gatte village on the border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts, after eight days of a massive search operation involving a fleet of aircraft and choppers as well as ground forces.
A 15-member team of rescuers were sent look for survivors in the accident on Wednesday and eight of them reached the crash site on Thursday morning, an IAF official said.