DNA samples confirm Dornier crew identity

Ending the two-month-long mystery over the whereabouts of the missing crew of the Indian Coast Guard aircraft, Tamil Nadu forensic labs has confirmed that the bones found in the seabed are their remains.

The ICG ended its search efforts last month when the vessel Olympic Canyon found the human remains on the seabed near the Dornier’s wreckage, raising suspicions that the bones were the remains of Pilot Vidyasagar, Co-Pilot Subash Suresh and Navigator M K Soni.
The boans were subsequently sent to the forensic labs for DNA profiling to ascertain that they were the remains of the crew. “Consequent to the recovery of wreckage of CG-791 and human remains, the extensive search operation code named "Talash' was called off on July 13", Coast Guard Regional Commander, Eastern Region, Inspector General S P Sharma said. “During the (testing) process, blood samples of families of the air crew were obtained for DNA matching. It has been confirmed by the forensic lab that the recovered human remains belong to the three missing crew,” ICG said.