Know About IAF AN-32 Aircraft Crash

It was Jun 03 2019,  an IAF AN-32 carrier aircraft carrying 13 people including eight aircrews and five passengers took off from Jor hat Assam Air force Station at 1227 hrs towards Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground. The last contact with that was made by aircraft was made at 1255 hrs.

After this the aircraft did not report at the destination, overdue actions were initiated. In coordination with Indian Army, various government and other civil agencies, Indian Air force commenced extensive search operations which were conducted under the direct supervision of Head Quarters Eastern Air Command. C-130J, AN-32, Mi-17 helicopters of IAF and Advanced Light helicopters of Indian Army were launched immediately to locate the missing aircraft. Apart from this Indian Navy P-8i aircraft also joined the search operations on 04 Jun 19. Other agencies, which were including ISRO were come into the operation to enhance its effectiveness. Advanced satellites of ISRO CARTOSAT and RISAT also took images of the area, which helped the search team in locating the aircraft. There was highly dense forest and vegetation, inhospitable terrain and also weather adversely affected the search operation in the search zone area. IAF remained committed to the continued air and ground efforts throughout day and night to locate the missing aircraft and its brave air-warriors. They left no stone unturned to found their location. Extensive support towards rescue operation was provided by the Indian Army, Indian Navy, State Government, State Police, and Local population.

After continuously search operations on 11 Jun 19, the wreckage of the aircraft was spotted in North of Lipo, North East of Tato, Arunachal Pradesh at an approximate height of 12000 ft by an IAF Mi-17 helicopter. Aerial operations were launched to the designated crash site however, due to a steep slope and thick forest the helicopter could not land near the crash site. An area was designated and a camp was established for helicopters to land with the recovery parties. On 12 Jun 19, a team of nine IAF personnel (including mountaineers), four Army Special Forces personnel and two local mountaineers were dropped at the campsite.

Eight members of the rescue team reached the crash site in search of the survivors on June 13, 2019, but they found no air-warrior survived the crash. Air-warriors who lost their lives in the tragic accident crash are –

1. Wing Commander GM Charles
2. Squadron Leader H Vinod
3. Flight Lieutenant MK Garg
4. Flight Lieutenant S Mohanty
5. Flight Lieutenant A Tanwar
6. Flight Lieutenant R Thapa
7. Warrant Officer KK Mishra
8. Leading Aircraftman SK Singh
9. Leading Aircraftman Pankaj
10. NC(E) Putali and
11. NC(E) Rajesh Kumar
12. Seargent Anoop Kumar
13. Corporal Sharin.

IAF and the whole country pay tribute to the brave air-warriors who lost their lives in the line of duty.

One has rightly said –

शहीदोंकी चिताओं पर लगेंगे हर बरस मेले, वतन पर मरने वालों का यही बाकी निशा होगा..