Sukhoi wreckage found in Arunachal, IAF orders inquiry

New Delhi: The search and rescue operation’s aerial hunt has sighted the wreckage of the crashed Sukhoi 30 MKI near Rupa Valley in Arunachal Pradesh. But despite desperate tries, could not reach the site because of the inclement weather conditions and the deep rain forest terrain along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

“The tail chute and one rudder is seen besides a proper impact point of a Su 30,” sources told this newspaper.

An advanced light helicopter (ALH) on Friday had attempted to airdrop a team of six IAF Garud commandos who would have slithered down from the chopper, but the terrain made it impossible to do so. The team had to fly back and will resume the operation on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, as per normal procedure, the IAF has ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) into the incident.

“Search for flight data recorder and missing crew will be perused by the ground parties after they reach the crash site. A CoI has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident,” said IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Anupam Banerjee.

The site, near Rupa Valley, is about 64 km from Tezpur where it lost radar contact with the base.

Army ground teams, along with local administration officials, are also attempting to reach the site. A number of assets, including a C-130 J, Su 30, Dhruv and Chetak helicopters, are engaged in the operation besides 18 ground teams that includes the Army and the civilian personnel.

The Met department, too, had grim news on weather prediction for Saturday with heavy rain predicted for many areas of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Besides losing valuable lives, till date eight Sukhoi 30s have crashed, resulting in an estimated loss of about Rs 2,700 crore.

With a speed of about 2,100 kmph and a range of 3,000 km, the Sukhoi 30 can remain airborne for more than 3.5 hours. It is capable of carrying a variety of weapons and there are ongoing efforts to fit the supersonic Brahmos missile onto a Sukhoi.