23 July,2016 08:52 AM IST | | Bipin Kumar Singh
The plane with 29 military and civilian passengers on board went missing minutes after taking off from the Tambaram air base in Tamil Nadu
IAF personnel guard the Tambaram Airforce station yesterday
The Indian Air Force AN-32 transport aircraft that went missing minutes after taking off from the Tambaram Air Force Base in Tamil Nadu yesterday reported three technical snags in July, details with mid-day reveal.
Also read: Indian Air Force plane with 29 people on board goes missing
IAF personnel guard the Tambaram Airforce station yesterday. PIC/AFP
The plane bearing registration number K 2743 had 29 passengers on board at the time of the accident. The Indian Navy's massive search operation launched from its Arakkonam base remained inconclusive at the time of going to press.
The first snag was reported on July 2, with a problem in the throttle movement. The plane had to be technically grounded on July 7 after a hydraulic leak was detected from the port wing root. The final snag was reported on July 14, when the plane was again grounded due to pressure leak from the port door.
Sudden altitude loss
IAF sources told mid-day the plane was on a scheduled courier sortie from Tambaram to Port Blair. Following are the officers on board: Flight Lieutenant Badsara, was commanding the aircraft with co-pilot, Flying Officer Nandal.
Flight Lieutenant Kunal was the on-board navigator and Junior Warrant Officer Ranjan was the engineer. Among other passengers are 12 IAF personnel and one each from the Indian Army, Navy and Coast Guard.
There are eight civilians on board, who are family members of the personnel.
The Chennai ATC last contacted the aircraft at 8.46 am and air traffic controllers last saw the aircraft on the radar at 9.12 am. The flight, which was scheduled to arrive at Port Blair at 11.45 am, has an endurance (time it can stay in air without landing) of four hours and 15 minutes.
"The aircraft was observed to have carried out a left turn with rapid loss of height from 23,000 ft," said an ATC official.
The rescue operation is being coordinated from the Arakkonam Naval Base. Two P8i and two Dornier aircraft from the naval fleet conducted sorties for three hours. The rescue operation would continue with more aircraft on Saturday morning.
According to Coast Guard officials, two ships each from Chennai and Port Blair have sailed towards the probable crash zone.
Naval Ships INS Sahyadri, Karmukh, Gharual, Jyoti and Kuthar are conducting the Search and Rescue (SAR). Additional Naval assets are on standby.
The Russian AN-32 was first introduced in the IAF fleet 35 years ago and despite a decision to phase out the aircraft in 2008, is still part of the transport fleet.
"The AN-32 is still one of the best transport aircraft in the available family and it has conducted thousands of flights during the relief and rescue operations in last three years, including the Kashmir and Uttarakhand floods and during the Nepal Earthquake," an AN-32 pilot told this reporter.
