Wednesday, June 10, 2009

IAF Plane Goes Missing

Tue, Jun 9 11:31 PM Shillong/Itanagar/Guwahati,
June 9 (PTI) A transport aircraft of Indian Air Force with eight air crew, including four senior officers, and four army men today went missing over the mountains in Arunachal Pradesh near the border with China and is feared to have crashed. Official sources in Itanagar said the AN-32 cargo aircraft, on a routine food supply sortie, went missing after it left Mechuka at around 2 pm along the China border in Arunachal Pradesh's Along district. The plane went off the radar at 4:30 pm, IAF sources in Jorhat said. The identity of the crew and other passengers were not disclosed but an IAF spokesman in Shillong said the air crew was led by a wing commander. Among the IAF men were two wing commanders, two sqadron leaders and one flight lieutenant on board the aircraft, IAF sources in Jorhat said. There were 12 people in the plane--two pilots, six IAF men and four army personnel--who were returning to the Roroya air base at Jorhat after dropping food sorties, said the sources. Director General of Arunachal Pradesh police Ajay Chadda however said in Itanagar the cargo plane was carrying 13 persons.
PTI