Missing AN-32 in Arunachal: Here’s the list of 13 people on board

Guwahati: The Indian Air Force (IAF) AN-32 aircraft, which went missing around 1 pm on Monday, a little over half an hour after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for Arunachal’s Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground (ALG), had six officers and seven airmen on board.

Among the officers, four were Flight lieutenant M Garg, Flight lieutenant Mohanty, Flight lieutenant Tanwwar and Flight lieutenant Thapa, one was Wing Commander Charles and the other Squadron Leader Vinod.

The seven airmen were Anoop, Sharin, KK Mishra, Pankaj, SK Singh, Rajesh Kumar and Putali.

The Russian-built transport aircraft destined for Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh’s Shi Yomi district had gone missing near Aalo around 1 pm.

Also Read: Eerie: 10 yrs ago, another AN-32 with 13 men crashed in Arunachal

Immediately thereafter, the IAF deployed all available resources, including Sukhoi Su-30 combat fighter jets and C-130J Hercules special operations aircraft to locate the missing aircraft. Troops on ground too were fanned out to hunt for the missing plane.

Meanwhile, a ground team of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has also joined the IAF’s rescue efforts on Tuesday morning. IAF officials are also in touch with the families of the 13 people who were on board the AN-32 aircraft.