IAF An-32 feared lost in Bay of Bengal with 29 people on board

An Indian Air Force (IAF) Antonov An-32 ‘Cline’ turboprop transport aircraft with 29 people on board, including a four-man crew, was reported missing on 22 July over the Bay of Bengal while on a courier flight to India’s eastern Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.

Eight civilians are believed to have been aboard the missing military aircraft, officials said.

The IAF and the Indian Navy (IN) have deployed aircraft and warships to try and locate the twin-engine An-32 that took off about 08:30 h local time from the IAF’s Tambaram base in southern India, and was scheduled to arrive at Port Blair three hours later.

These comprise four IN reconnaissance aircraft – two Boeing P-8I Neptune long-range maritime patrol aircraft and two Dornier 228s – a submarine and 12 naval surface vessels, including corvettes, destroyers and a fleet tanker.

The IAF had despatched one Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 and one An-32 transport aircraft for the search and rescue (SAR) mission.

IAF officials said contact with the missing An-32 was lost at around 08:46 h local time, some 16 minutes after take-off, when the aircraft was some 280 km from India’s east coast and flying at an altitude of some 7,000 m.

The added ground radar tracking the An-32 showed it making a sharp left turn before rapidly losing altitude.

IAF and IN officials also told IHS Jane’s that turbulent monsoon conditions over the Bay of Bengal and impending darkness were likely to hamper SAR efforts that were continuing some eight hours after the An-32 took off.

“It is more than likely that the aircraft has gone down, as it does not have the necessary fuel to operate for such a long time,” a senior IAF official said.

Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha has briefed the government on the missing An-32, officials said.

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