The Eagle
SENIOR MODERATOR
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
- Messages
- 24,239
- Reaction score
- 258
- Country
- Location
Same A/C but an old news with same situation...
On March 25, 1986, the IAF lost its second An-32. But, why should a brand new aircraft, straight from the factory, on its last leg of ferry to India, disappear without a trace – a question that could never be answered? There were no mountains on its flight path as it was flying over the sea at a comfortable height above sea level. There might have been some clouding but generally the route weather was reported to be fair.
In the absence of any radio call from the crew of the ill-fated aircraft and the fact that no debris were found of the wreckage, the accident has been buried in the IAF’s flight safety archives as ‘Unresolved’. However, what has come to be known – though never fully substantiated – is that the US Navy had launched a massive hunt for a missing carrier borne aircraft of its own at the same time and, in the same area, where K2729 was supposed to have gone down. Unfortunately, there was reportedly no distress call from the USN pilot either, nor the wreckage of aircraft ever found. Could it therefore be a case of a possible mid-air collision, caused by lack of ‘situational awareness’, resulting in immediate disintegration/death of both aircraft and crews giving no time to either of them to initiate a distress call?
In the geopolitical scenarios prevalent in the 1980s, there was hardly a chance for the US and Indian governments to synergise their respective searches for the missing airplanes. In any case, the US Navy never officially admitted to the loss of one of its aircraft in the Arabian Sea on that day in 1986.
http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories3291_MH370_Rekindling_Memories_IAF_AN-32.htm
On March 25, 1986, the IAF lost its second An-32. But, why should a brand new aircraft, straight from the factory, on its last leg of ferry to India, disappear without a trace – a question that could never be answered? There were no mountains on its flight path as it was flying over the sea at a comfortable height above sea level. There might have been some clouding but generally the route weather was reported to be fair.
In the absence of any radio call from the crew of the ill-fated aircraft and the fact that no debris were found of the wreckage, the accident has been buried in the IAF’s flight safety archives as ‘Unresolved’. However, what has come to be known – though never fully substantiated – is that the US Navy had launched a massive hunt for a missing carrier borne aircraft of its own at the same time and, in the same area, where K2729 was supposed to have gone down. Unfortunately, there was reportedly no distress call from the USN pilot either, nor the wreckage of aircraft ever found. Could it therefore be a case of a possible mid-air collision, caused by lack of ‘situational awareness’, resulting in immediate disintegration/death of both aircraft and crews giving no time to either of them to initiate a distress call?
In the geopolitical scenarios prevalent in the 1980s, there was hardly a chance for the US and Indian governments to synergise their respective searches for the missing airplanes. In any case, the US Navy never officially admitted to the loss of one of its aircraft in the Arabian Sea on that day in 1986.
http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories3291_MH370_Rekindling_Memories_IAF_AN-32.htm
