AN-32 search: Parrikar says blinks being probed

No confirmed findings as of now, says minister

As the search for the Indian Air Force’s missing AN-32 aircraft enters fifth day, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has informed Parliament that four-five ‘blinks’ were noticed.

He said the government was probing if they were from the transport aircraft.

“Four-five blinks were noticed. We are trying to find out whether they are misleading or have some meaning. As of now, there is no confirmed finding,” Parrikar said in the Rajya Sabha, responding to the query of a member.

The search exercise now concentrates on finding out the aircraft’s Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) beacon, which continuously disseminates radio signals in pre-fixed frequencies. The job of the search team is to capture the signals and trace the location of the ping.

Since the beacons have a limited battery life, the signal strength would get weaker as the day passed.

Last year, the coast guards’ crashed Dornier aircraft was retrieved on the basis of the ELT signal almost a month after the accident. As the beacon was about to die, a Kilo class submarine of the Indian Navy picked up the faint signal to trace the location.

“No resources have been left (to use). We have used satellite imagery and P-8I (surveillance) aircraft extensively. We have used about 30 ships. A submarine is already in the area. Not only that, in order to locate it, we are also getting a deep rescue vessel,” Parrikar said.

The government has asked Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology’s research ship ORV Sagar Nidhi to return from Mauritius. Though it has facilities for under sea operations, a smaller search area needs to be identified first.

For the Dornier operation, Reliance Industries’ Olympic Canyon was put to use. However, the Reliance vessel is unavailable this time. Parrikar said AN-32 is the safest aircraft IAF flies and there were only two reported accidents in the last 10 years.