The Indian Air Force (IAF) has written to the family members of 29 personnel onboard the missing AN-32 aircraft that their relatives may be presumed to be “fatally injured” as survival chances of thos
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has written to the family members of 29 personnel onboard the missing AN-32 aircraft that their relatives may be presumed to be “fatally injured” as survival chances of those in the aircraft is “unlikely”.
A letter written by Air-Vice Marshal O.P. Tyagi dated August 24 says: “The Court of Inquiry, upon very careful scrutiny of the circumstantial evidence available, and in the light of extensive search and rescue operations carried out, has concluded that it is unlikely that the missing personnel on board the ill-fated aircraft would have survived the accident”.
The letter also says that the IAF has spared no effort in trying to locate the aircraft that went missing after taking off from Chennai’s Tambaram Indian Air Force base to Port Blair in the Andamans across the Bay of Bengal on July 22.
The IAF had carried out 201 search and rescue sorties, covering approximately an area of 2,17,800 square nautical miles several times.
Indian Navy sources said the search for the missing aircraft still continues with ships Samudra Ratnakar and Sagar Nidhi carrying out the operations.
IAF sources said the families have been given the information so that they can go ahead with insurance and other administrative formalities. The letter came annexed with a certificate of presumption of death.
The AN 32 plane did not have an underwater locator system, which has made the search difficult. International help from US and Russia also did not result in any headway in locating the aircraft.
