No survivors in Arunachal crash, says IAF

Guwahati: The Indian Air Force on Thursday announced that there was no survivor in the June 3 crash of AN-32 aircraft in the frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The announcement of the IAF came soon after a 15-member search team of mountaineers reached the crash site at the height of 12,000 feet near Gatte village on the border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts in Arunachal Pradesh.

“IAF is sad to inform that there are no survivors from the crash of AN-32,” the Air Force said in a string of tweets to “pay tribute to the brave air-warriors who lost their life” in the crash.

The IAF also identified the air warriors who died in the crash: Wing Commander G.M. Charles, Squadron Leader H. Vinod, Flight Lieutenants R. Thapa, Ashish Tanwar, S. Mohanty and Mohit K. Garg, Warrant Officer K.K. Mishra, Sergeant Anoop Kumar, Corporal Sherin, Leading Air Craftsman S.K. Singh and Pankaj and two non combatant enrolled employees, Putali and Rajesh Kumar. The aircraft was equipped with an emergency locator transmitter, an emergency beacon in the cargo section that can broadcast distress signals to reveal the location of an aircraft. But no signal came from this device.

The first clue about the crash site is said to have come from a villager in Arunachal Pradesh’s remote mountains, according to the state government officials in the West Siang district.

Following the lead, a Mi-17 helicopter finally sighted the wreckage at 12,000 feet near a tiny village called Lipo.