By wusu Senami
On Monday,Indian plane with 13 people on board went missing in the country’s remote north-east, suggesting authorities to launch search operations.
The Antonov An-32 plane , took off from the Jorhat airbase in the Assam state for the Mechuka military landing strip, in Arunachal Pradesh state.
It was carrying eight crew members and five passengers, official sources told broadcaster NDTV.
According to the report, the flight had been scheduled to land at Mechuka in an hour, but the aircraft lost contact with ground forces 30 minutes after take-off.
Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh,
Spoke to the vice chief of Indian Airforce (IAF) ,Air Marshal Rakesh Singh Bhadauria, on Twitter regarding the missing aircraft which is overdue for some hours.
Singh was informed of steps taken by the IAF to find the missing aircraft. I pray for the safety of all passengers on board,’’ Singh added.
The IAF had launched search operations to track the plane.
It was discovered that the plane is likely to have gone missing over the eastern Himalayan range, where the terrain is mountainous with a thick forest.
In 2016, an Indian air force An-32 skip town while flying over the Bay of Bengal.
A search andrescue operation was launched, but the aircraft was never found and all 29 people onboard were presumed dead.