Search for Missing Coast Guard Dornier enters Third Day

[Hindustani78]

Remote-operated vessel joins search for Dornier - The Hindu
Updated: June 20, 2015 14:49 IST

Commander S.P. Sharma. Photo: S. Vijay Kumar
The Coast Guard’s search operation now involves nine ships apart from 10 boats and a host of small fishing vessels.
The search for the missing Dornier of the Coast Guard has received a boost with a remote-operated vessel (ROV) of Reliance Industries joining the underwater search operation 10 days after the aircraft went off the radar near Puducherry.

The Coast Guard’s search operation now involves nine ships, including a submarine and the ROV, apart from 10 boats and a host of small fishing vessels.

“Our aircraft are chipping in with the aerial survey,” Coast Guard Inspector-General (Eastern Region) S.P. Sharma told The Hindu on the telephone from Chennai.

The Dornier, with two pilots and a navigator, went missing off the Puducherry coast on the night of June 8. It was on a surveillance mission along the coastline of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

The ROV, hired by Reliance for its activities, has been redeployed on the Coast Guard’s request. The National Institute of Ocean Technology has also redeployed its survey ship from its current operations on the equator.

The Navy has four warships, one survey vessel and a submarine in the operation. The Coast Guard and the Coastal Security Group have deployed eight small craft for a near-shore search and fishermen have pitched in with their own boats, the officer said.

The seafloor in the area being searched has a steep slope, going down to 800 m in some areas. Further, the southward sea currents make it more difficult for the search operation.

For the families of the missing crew, this has been a traumatic experience. Contacted over the phone from Visakhaptanam, a close relative of the pilot, Deputy Commandant D. Vidyasagar, said, “They (Navy and the Coast Guard) have been doing their job 1000 per cent. Officials of the Ministry (of Defence) are regularly in touch with us.”

Mr. Vidyasagar is the son of a retired employee of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust and has a four-year old son. “He is professionally very competent and an excellent human being,” a colleague told The Hindu. As soon as news of the missing aircraft was conveyed to them, Vidyasagar’s parents left for Chennai. Close relatives from Visakhapatnam joined them on Thursday.

 

[Hindustani78]

***************

In a statement issued here, the Coast Guard said that sustained efforts to search and locate the missing aircraft are continuing round-the-clock by ships and aircraft.

"Sea bed profiling by NIOT (National Institute of Ocean Technology) Research Vessel Sagar Nidhi was carried out for 48 hours in the most probable area. However, no significant leads could be obtained from the bottom search," said the Coast Guard.

According to the Coast Guard, Reliance Industries Ltd has provided its multifunctional support vessel Olympic Canyon with integrated remotely operated vehicle (ROV) free of cost on humanitarian grounds.

The ROV is equipped with echo sounder and remotely operated underwater camera with projector lights, which enables it conduct underwater searches besides capturing the video footage of the area.

 

[Hindustani78]

Family of missing Coast Guard airplane crew hopeful | Zee News
Last Updated: Friday, June 26, 2015 - 22:46
Chennai: Even as the search for a missing Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft with three crew members continued for the 19th day on Friday, the family members are hopeful of the safe return of their loved ones.


"We are sure our son will be found. The Coast Guard is giving us information on the search status," Padma Suresh, mother of Subash Suresh, one the missing crew, told IANS.

The family members of another missing crew, M.K. Soni, with the help of Coast Guard went to Pichavaram area on Friday.

A reporter at the scene told IANS: "Soni`s wife was calling out for her husband with tears in her eyes."

The family declined to speak to the media.

The Coast Guard said it was continuing its search operations.

The Indian Navy`s submarine Sindhudhwaj has resumed its search for the missing aircraft based upon fresh inputs provided by the Naval Operations Data Aalysis Centre.

The Dornier aircraft with three crew members -- all in their 30s -- went missing on June 8 night while returning to base after a surveillance sortie.

The Coast Guard and the navy have been searching for the plane since then but without result.

IANS

 

[Hindustani78]

Search for Coast Guard Dornier to continue - The Hindu
Updated: July 6, 2015 16:23 IST

The search for the missing Dornier aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard is expected to continue. Four ships have been pressed into service, said Commander Coast Guard Region (East) Inspector General S.P. Sharma.

The Dornier that took off from Chennai with three officers on board went missing while returning from a surveillance sortie on the night of June 8.

Mr. Sharma told reporters that a remotely-operated vessel (ROV) of Reliance India Limited was also expected to join the search.

The ROV was expected to join the operations much earlier.

“However, it is in bad weather in its present engagement and we have positive indications that as soon as it is free it will join the search,” he said, adding that an enquiry has been ordered to come out with reasons for the aircraft’s disappearance.

 

[Hindustani78]

One month on, no trace of missing Coast Guard air crew | Zee News

Chennai: It has been a month since the Indian Coast Guard plane with three crew members went missing, but the search is still on, an official said on Tuesday.

"The search for the crew and the missing plane is still on. There is no update on the situation," a Coast Guard official told IANS.

The Dornier aircraft with three crew members -- all in their 30s -- went missing on the night of June 8 while returning to the base after a regular surveillance sortie along the Tamil Nadu coast and Palk Bay.

The aircraft took off around 6 p.m. on June 8 and there has been no news about its whereabouts after that. An official statement said the last contact with the aircraft was made at 9 p.m. on that day.

The last known location of the aircraft as per the Trichy radar was off Karaikal in Puducherry, where it was tracked till 9.23 p.m., 95 nautical miles south of Chennai.

On June 9, the Coast Guard and the Indian Navy started search operations for the missing plane but has achieved no result so far.

Family members of the missing crew are still hoping for some good news, though a few of them feel India could have sought international help in the search operations.


PTI

 

[Sneaker]

WTH??!! No reporting on MSM.. thanks for keeping track.... New bermuda triangle or what??

 

[Hindustani78]

WTH??!! No reporting on MSM.. thanks for keeping track.... New bermuda triangle or what??

95 nautical miles south of Chennai.

 

[Hindustani78]

Missing Dornier aircraft: My prayers are with families of 'brave crew', tweets Rahul Gandhi | Zee News

New Delhi: Even as the hunt for the missing Indian Coast Guard's (ICG) Dornier aircraft continues nearly a month after it went missing, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that his prayers were with the families of the missing crew members.

“One month on still no trace of missing [HASHTAG]#ICGDornier[/HASHTAG] &its brave crew.My prayers are with the families:Rahul Gandhi @deepa_subash @soni_amruta,” the official Twitter account of the Office of Rahul Gandhi posted.

Deepa Subash, the wife of the co-pilot and Deputy Commandant Subash Suresh of the missing aircraft had earlier urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pay 'attention' to the search.

Apart from Subash, the missing Dornier had Deputy Commandant Vidyasagar as pilot and navigator/observer MK Soni onboard.

The missing aircraft was deployed for surveillance along the Tamil Nadu coast and over Palk Bay.

It took off from Chennai airport around 6 pm on June 8 for a surveillance sortie and on its way back it went missing, said a Coast Guard official.

The last contact with the aircraft was at 9 pm on Monday while its last known location, as per Trichy radar, was off Karaikal in Puducherry where it was tracked till 9.23 pm, 95 nautical miles south of Chennai.

(With IANS Inputs)

File picture of Pilot Deputy Commandant Vidyasagar, navigator Deputy Commandant MK Soni and co-pilot Deputy Commandant Subash Suresh.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Defence
10-July, 2015 18:43 IST
DEBRIS of Missing Coast Guard Dornier Located

Indian Naval Submarine Sindhudhavaj, whilst on task for locating the missing aircraft, picked up a barrage of transmissions in a depth of 996 meters on 06 Jul 2015. This information was a vital source for deployment of the Reliance vessel, M/v Olympic Canyon to localize the search.

Consequently, the unrelenting and uninterrupted search which, included 693 hours of surface effort and 196 hours of air effort finally yielded positive results. The state of the art Multifunctional Support Vessel (MSV) of M/s Reliance India Limited with integrated Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) was able to locate and recover the Flight Data Recorder (FDR )and one Line Replacement Unit (LRU) from a depth of 950 mtrs in a unique and first ever salvage at such depths.

The FDR could provide vital inputs towards establishing the cause of the incident. This is a major accomplishment to the unprecedented search operation which was launched about 30 days back.

The Dornier aircraft went missing on June 8, 2015 after a routine maritime surveillance sortie along the Tamil Nadu coast.

 

[Hindustani78]

Missing Coast Guard aircraft found, black box recovered
Chennai, July 10, 2015 (IANS)

A Coast Guard Dornier aircraft, missing for over a month now, has been found on the sea bed off the Tamil Nadu coast and its flight data recorder recovered, an official said on Friday. There is no information about its three crew members though family members were still hopeful.

"The Dornier aircraft has been found in the sea at a depth of 900 metres off Chidambaram. There is no information about the crew members," Coast Guard Commander East Region, Inspector General Satya Prakash Sharma told IANS.

The Dornier aircraft with pilot, Deputy Commandant Vidyasagar, co-pilot, Deputy Commandant Subash Suresh and navigator/observer M.K. Soni went missing on the night of June 8 while returning to the base after a regular surveillance sortie along the Tamil Nadu coast and Palk Bay.

The announcement sparked some hope among the family of the missing crew members. Padma Suresh, mother of co-pilot Subhash Suresh, told IANS that they had heard that the black box or data recorder of the missing flight had been recovered but there was no information about the crew.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed... we are praying," she said in a shaky voice.
According to a Coast Guard release, Indian navy submarine Sindhudhavaj, deployed in the search mission, had picked up transmissions at a depth of 996 meters on July 6, thus enabling Reliance Industries' multifunctional support vessel Olympic Canyon, which also pressed into the operation, to localize the search.

The Olympic Canyon's integrated remotely operated vehicle was able to locate and recover the missing aircraft's flight data recorder (FDR) and one line replacement unit from a depth of 950 metres in "a unique and first ever salvage at such depths", it said.

The FDR could provide vital inputs towards establishing the cause of the incident, said the Coast Guard, terming it a major accomplishment to the search operation which was launched soon after the Dornier went missing and has included 693 hours of surface effort and 196 hours of air effort.

 

[Hindustani78]

Parts of Dornier wreckage found - The Hindu
The flight data recorder and some parts of the aircraft which went missing on June 8 have been recovered.
In a major breakthrough in the search for the missing Coast Guard aircraft, which went missing on June 8 with three officers on board, “the flight data recorder and some parts of the aircraft” have been found in the same location the search was being carried out off Chidambaram coast.

“The flight data recorder of the aircraft and some parts of the aircraft have been found,” Coast Guard’s Regional Commander (East) Inspector General Satya Prakash Sharma told The Hindu.

Defence Ministry’s Principal Spokesperson Sitanshu Kar tweeted, “#ICGDornier Debris located by ROV Support Vessel, Olympic Canyon, thru TX detected by INS Sindhudvaj.”

Reliance-owned Remotely Operated Vessel MV Olympic Canyon was conducting search in the area. However, there was no information on the three officers who were on board the aircraft.

 

[Hindustani78]

Debris of Coast Guard aircraft strewn across sea bed | Zee News
Last Updated: Saturday, July 11, 2015 - 22:42

Chennai: Fragments of the Indian Coast Guard aircraft missing for over a month seem to strewn across the sea bed off the Tamil Nadu coast as per the search team, an official of the coastal security agency said on Saturday.

On Friday, the Coast Guard said it had found the missing aircraft's flight data recorder (FDR) known as the black box and the landing gear around 17 nautical miles from the nearest shore and approximately 20 nautical miles from Cuddalore.

The debris was located at a depth of around 950 metres.

"As per the signals parts of the missing aircraft seem to scattered over different locations on the seabed in the areas surrounding the spot where the black box and landing gear were located," a Coast Guard official told IANS preferring anonymity.

"The search for three crew members is also on. We are also searching for the aircraft part that has the cockpit," he said.

According to him, the cause of the crash could be ascertained only when the data in the black box is decoded by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

He said the depth was more in this part of the Bay of Bengal.

An official statement issued on Friday said submarine INS Sindhudhavaj picked up a barrage of transmissions at a depth of 996 meters on July 6, following which Reliance vessel MV Olympic Canyon was sent for localised search.

The Dornier aircraft with pilot Deputy Commandant Vidyasagar, co-pilot, Deputy Commandant Subash Suresh and navigator/observer M.K. Soni went missing on the night of June 8 while returning to base after a surveillance sortie along the Tamil Nadu coast and Palk Bay.

The aircraft, deployed for surveillance along the Tamil Nadu coast and Palk Bay, took off from Chennai airport on June 8 evening around 6 p.m. but did not return after the sortie.

An official statement said the last contact with the aircraft was made at 9 pm on June 8.

The last known location of the aircraft as per Trichy radar was off Karaikal in Puducherry, where it was tracked till 9.23 pm, 95 nautical miles south of Chennai.

IANS

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Defence
13-July, 2015 18:10 IST
Missing Dornier Aircraft Located

The recovery of Coast Guard Dornier 791 aircraft wreckage from the seabed off Tamil Nadu coast on 10 July 2015 was the result of ‘never say die’ spirit and the unrelenting efforts of Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy and other agencies. It involved almost 700 hours of surface effort and nearly 200 hours of air effort by the Coast Guard, Navy, other specialized agencies of the centre and Reliance Industries Limited.

The ill-fated ICG Dornier CG-791 while on its routine night surveillance on 08 June 2015 suddenly disappeared from the radar located at Trichy when it was 32 miles north-east of Karaikal. At 2124 hours, the International Maritime Satellite (INMARSAT) terminal on board also suddenly powered off. Promptly the Regional HQs (East) launched a massive search and rescue (SAR) operational codenamed ‘Op Talash’ to locate the aircraft.

Simultaneously, four ships and a long range maritime surveillance aircraft, P-8I, of the Indian Navy (IN) were also deployed for the operation. The Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau was also requested to activate the community information mechanism to sensitize local populace and fishermen were also apprised about the incident so that they could report sighting of any debris at sea. Initially, the Surface Search was undertaken based on information shared by Trichy radar. Subsequently, the initial position of the search was revised upto 70 nm seawards and the air search area was extended upto 180 nm based on inputs from Chennai ATC Radar and powering off of the INMARSAT.

A ray of hope emerged on 12 June 2015, with the sighting of a thin oil sheen which proved to be short lived as the sample was found to be devoid of any oil derivatives. Thereafter a request was forwarded on 12 June 2015 to the IN and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), for underwater search. A Black Box detector from NIOT was fitted onboard Coast Guard Ship Vigraha.

The major challenge in the conduct of the underwater search was that the seabed in the search area had a steep gradient. Though the IN ship reported receipt of 06 pings (sub-surface transmission) on 37.5 KHz frequency, however as no subsequent transmission were received, firm position could not be localized. Thereafter on 13 June 2015, IN submarine Sindhudhwaj commenced search in the area of 15x15 Sq NM. The submarine reported sporadic sub-surface reception but as the signal was weak, the position could not be established once again.

NIOT Research Vessel (RV) Sagar Nidhi was also engaged for the seabed profiling but no aircraft debris was located. With no definite lead, assistance was sought from M/s Reliance India Limited for services of Multi Support Vessel (MSV) Olympic Canyon equipped with Remotely Operated Underwater Vessel (ROV) High Precision Acoustic Positioning Equipment (HIPAP) for undertaking sub-surface search, extended the support ‘on GRATIS basis.’ The vessel commenced the search in an area identified by ICG, spanning over 500 x 500 m area, utilizing underwater camera fitted on ROV.

INS Sindhudwaj, redeployed by the Indian Navy on 06 July 2015, picked up a barrage of transmissions at a depth of 990 metres from the (SLB) Sonar Locator Beacon of the missing aircraft. This proved to be the precise thread to approach the elusive source. The Reliance, upon request redeployed the MSV on 10 July 2015 commenced the search in positions identified by the submarine. The breakthrough was made by MSV Olympic Canyon on the morning of 10 July 2015.

33 days after the ICG aircraft went missing, wreckage of the aircraft was found at depths of 990 meters in position 17 NM S/E of Cuddolore which included the flight data recorder, Two Engines, Propellers, Tail and tail cone, air frame parts, Maevest, the Single Line Replacement unit, parts of the fuselage, part of the landing gear and the Cockpit Voice Recorder by the Reliance Vessel Olympic canyon. The debris have been recovered from the sea bed by the vessel.

The operation mounted for the missing CG 791 with participation of large number of national agencies is unprecedented in the maritime SAR history of India. Apart from ICG, the IN, IAF, NIOT, INCOIS, NRSA, Naval Physical Oceanographical Laboratory, Naval Operations Data Processing & Analysis Center, the Airport Authority Of India Limited, Coastal Security Group Tamil Nadu, Reliance Industries Limited & Omkar foundation have contributed to the undersea SAR mission. However, the role played by the IN submarine in locating the wreckage and more importantly by MSV Olympic Canyon in undertaking the mammoth task of salvage in rough sea conditions is very noteworthy.

NAo/Nampi/RAJ
(Release ID :123221)

 

[Hindustani78]

Search for dornier called off as 'human remains' recovered - The Hindu

Updated: July 14, 2015 15:04 IST

The Indian Coast Guard on Tuesday announced that the search operations following the missing of its Dornier aircraft since June 8 have been called off.

"Human remains" - mostly bones, including a toe-bone, a wrist watch, parts of a dongree or overall (worn by pilots on duty), a Maevest (life jacket) were among the things that were recovered within a radius of 2 km, Coast Guard Eastern Regional Commander Inspector General S.P. Sharma said.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Sharma said that the search operations were terminated last evening, while the recovered remains and personal belongings would be shown to the family members of the crew.

The Coast Guard was coordinating with the Tamil Nadu Forensic Sciences Department to ascertain the details of the human remains recovered from the site, while would also simultaneously validated by the family members. The materials found during the search operations would be handed over to the Board of Inquiry which was looking into the incident.

Replying to a query, Mr. Sharma said that Dornier would continue to fly for surveillance. “Even during the search for the missing aircraft, majority of the flying time was by Dornier aircrafts,” he said.

The recovered parts of the aircraft would be sent to analysis by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Defence
24-July, 2015 16:23 IST
Missing of IAF Aircraft

During a routine night surveillance on 08 June 2015, Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Dornier aircraft CG-791 suddenly disappeared from the radar located at Trichy when it was 32 miles north-east of Karaikal. After extensive search by the ICG, Navy and other agencies, wreckage of the aircraft was recovered on 10 July 2015.

Only one aircraft (CG-791) as mentioned in reply to part (a) & (b) has gone missing during the last three years and the current year.

Advanced technology including radar system is available with the defence forces. Overflying aircrafts are continuously tracked by land based radar. Further, the aircrafts are also equipped with Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), Personal Rescue Beacon (PRB) Airborne Locator System (ALS) and Sonar Locator Beacon (SLB). In addition, the Government has also used specialized technologies available with Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and other agencies to successfully locate the wreckage of the missing aircraft.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Shri M. Chandrakasi and Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in Lok Sabha today.