https://www.news18.com/news/india/w...achal-after-eight-days-of-search-2181925.html
The wreckage of the AN-32 aircraft that went missing on June 3 has been spotted 16 kilometres north of Lipo in Arunachal Pradesh by Mi-17 helicopters, the Indian Air Force said on Tuesday.
Taking to Twitter, the IAF said: “The wreckage of the missing #An32 was spotted today 16 Kms North of Lipo, North East of Tato at an approximate elevation of 12000 ft by the #IAF Mi-17 Helicopter undertaking search in the expanded search zone.” The force added that "efforts are now continuing to establish the status of occupants & establish survivors".
With eight crew members and five armed forces personnel on board, the IAF aircraft lost contact with the ground control before it went off radar on June 3. The Russian-made plane, which was on its way to Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Shi-Yomi district of Arunachal Pradesh from Jorhat in Assam, went missing 33 minutes after it took off at 12.27 a.m.
The IAF had on Saturday announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh to anyone providing information about the location of the AN-32 transport aircraft after rough weather hampered search operations.
On Saturday, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa reviewed the overall search operation at a high-level meeting in Assam's Jorhat airbase. He also interacted with the families of the officers and airmen who were on board the aircraft.
The assets deployed for the operation included Sukhoi-30 aircraft in addition to a fleet of C-130J and AN-32 planes and Mi-17 and ALH helicopters. The ground forces included troops from the Army, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the State police.
The IAF had been regularly updating the families of all air warriors on board the aircraft about the rescue operation.
The Indian Navy's P-8I aircraft was deployed earlier this week as it has electro-optical and infra-red sensors, which could be helpful in the search operation. IAF officials said ISRO's Cartosat and RISAT satellites are taking images of the area around Menchuka to help the rescuers find the plane.