In a significant development, the debris of the Indian Air Force’s An-32 aircraft, which mysteriously went missing over the Bay of Bengal in 2016 with 29 people on board, has been discovered after seven years, according to an announcement by the Union Ministry of Defence on Friday.
The discovery was made using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) deployed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology. The wreckage was located on the sea bed approximately 310 kilometers from the Chennai coast, at a depth of 3,400 meters. Advanced technologies, including a multi-beam SONAR, synthetic aperture SONAR, and high-resolution photography, were utilized in the search operation.
The defence ministry stated, “The search images were scrutinized and found to be conforming with an An-32 aircraft. This discovery at the probable crash site, with no other recorded history of any other missing aircraft report in the same area, points to the debris as possibly belonging to the crashed IAF An-32 (K-2743).”
The An-32 twin-engine aircraft had vanished on July 22, 2016, after taking off from the Tambaram Air Force Station in Chennai. The aircraft, en route to Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, lost radar contact approximately 280 kilometers east of Chennai at around 9:12 am.
Onboard the aircraft were 29 individuals, including six crew members, 11 IAF personnel, two Indian Army soldiers, one each from the Bharat Navy and Indian Coast Guard, and eight defence civilians working with the Naval Armament Depot.
Following the disappearance, a massive search and rescue operation was launched, involving submarines, surface vessels, and various aircraft. Despite extensive efforts, it was confirmed on August 1, 2016, that the aircraft lacked an underwater locator beacon. The rescue mission was eventually called off on September 15, 2016, with all individuals on board presumed dead.
The discovery of the wreckage brings closure to the prolonged mystery surrounding the disappearance of the An-32 aircraft and provides some answers to the families of the 29 individuals who lost their lives in the tragic incident. The findings will likely prompt further investigations to determine the cause of the crash and any potential lessons for aviation safety.
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