Missing IAF plane

Hunt for missing AN-32: Search teams pick up signals possibly from Indian Air Force aircraft
An intensive search for the missing IAF's AN-32 transport plane with 29 people onboard entered the fifth day today. No debris or survivors have been located yet.

Search teams have detected 4-5 pings from the ocean bed, however, it is yet to be verified if those are from the AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force which went missing last Friday (July 22) soon after taking off from Chennai's Tambaram air base for Port Blair.

"We have detected 4-5 pings, trying to verify whether these are real or false alarms," Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told Rajya Sabha today.

MASSIVE SEARCH OPERATION CONTINUES

An intensive search for the missing IAF's AN-32 transport plane with 29 people on board entered the fifth day today. No debris or survivors have been located yet.

"13 Naval vessels, 2 Coast Guard ships besides assets from Andaman and Nicobar islands are engaged in the operations," Coast Guard Commander (East) Inspector General Rajan Bargotra told reporters.

Several agencies, including National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (NCOIS), were coordinating in the search operations and if needed vessel of NIOT 'Sagar Nidhi' which is on its way from Mauritius will be used for search operations, he said.
The search area has been expanded from the initial 14,400 square nautical miles.

AIR FORCE DEFENDS USE OF AN-32s

Amid criticism in some quarters about the existing over 100 AN-32 aircraft and how they have outrun their life, Chief of the Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha sought to defend it saying in the last three decades of its operations, IAF has exploited the capabilities of this aircraft as the workhorse of the force.

The missing AN-32 transport aircraft, which was inducted into the IAF between 1984-1991, had last year undergone a major refit.

About the AN-32 aircraft

The search for missing Antonov AN 32 which took off from Tambaram Airforce base on Friday morning has been intensified.

The Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre at Chennai has been coordinating round the clock surveillance towards search effort along with Southern Air Command of IAF, Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.

Here is all you need to know about the aircraft:

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AN 32, considered as the work horse of Indian Airforce, extremely helpful in transporting cargo is well known for its capability to handle rough weather. The design derivative of AN 26, with engine nacelles placed above the wing allowed fixing of larger propellers and engines twice as powerful as on AN 26. The aircraft was designated to be well suited for operations in tropical regions and in unpredictable climatic conditions.

The aircraft was chosen for the role of medium tactical military transport roles for the Indian Airforce which includes air-dropping cargo, passenger carrying, firefighting and paratrooping.

The aircraft was inducted into Indian Airforce in 1984 and nearly 101 aircrafts are in service. But with the collapse of USSR, trouble in acquiring spares for the aircraft accumulated as the vital aircrafts' spare were manufactured in Ukraine which broke away from USSR.

In 2010, following approval for upgradation, 40 AN 32s were upgraded in Kiev, Ukraine. But work got way delayed due to fighting in the Baltic country.

AN 32 can fly at a maximum speed of 530 km/h and has a range of 2,500 km. It has a capacity to carry 50 passengers or a max takeoffs wait of 16,800 kg.

The western alternative for AN 32 was C-2 Greyhound but it's payload capacity was reduced with a reduced body to be used extensively in supplying cargo to US Nimitz class aircraft carriers.

The Indian Airforce had no idea of replacing AN 32s at anytime soon as more plans for its upgradation was underway.

The first incident of a missing plane was reported on March 25, 1986 when an Indian Airforce  AN 32 reportedly disappeared over Indian Ocean during a delivery flight from the Soviet Union via Muscat, Oman.

With the recent reports of another missing AN 32 which was on its way from Chennai to Port Blair, serious questions about including modern navigation system into Coast Guard Aircrafts and Airforce Cargo flights are being discussed.