india

Updated: Jun 12, 2019 12:43 IST

A day after the wreckage of the AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force was located in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Siang district, comprising personnel from IAF, Army and mountaineers have been airlifted to the crash site.

The wreckage of a missing military transport plane carrying 13 people was spotted on Tuesday, eight days after it disappeared from radar screens and triggered frantic efforts by the Indian Air Force and the Army to locate the Soviet-origin aircraft.

Also read: Trying to establish survivors, says IAF after wreckage of missing AN-32 found

The wreckage was spotted at 12,000 feet near a small village called Lipo that has a population of about 120. According to an IAF official, the wreckage was spotted between 1 and 2 pm. The flight which was bound for an advanced landing ground at Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh went missing around 1 pm on June 3.

“The rescue mission of inducting teams to the crash site, by helicopters has begun. Mi17s and ALH from army are being utilised,” said defence PRO Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh.

Also read: Clues from villager helped locate AN-32 wreckage in Arunachal Pradesh

Air marshal RD Mathur, air officer commanding in chief, Eastern Air Command, complimented the search team for their relentless effort.

Apart from the hostile terrain, search efforts were hampered by bad weather, with fierce rains and poor visibility narrowing the scope of operations.