Weather halts airlifting of doomed AN-32 personnel

IAF helicopters could not airlift the mortal remains of its personnel for the third day on Monday from the site where the AN-32 aircraft crashed on June 3, due to bad weather.

"The helicopters are ready with the remains but could not take off due to rain and low clouds. But our efforts are on to bring back the remains as soon as the situation improves," IAF spokesperson based at Shillong, Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh said.

"The rescue team of 17 IAF, army and civilian members is present at the crash site. Helicopter operations require great skill and caution, under such conditions, especially hovering at high altitudes and very close to the steep mountain slopes. Bad weather is hampering hovering by helicopters to do winching operations which are mandatory for all the rescue operations and recovery of mortal remains," an IAF statement said on Sunday.

The transport aircraft with 13 IAF personnel onboard went missing around 1 pm on June 3, a little over 30 minutes after it took off from Jorhat air force station in eastern Assam. It was headed toward Mechuka landing ground near China border in Arunachal Pradesh.

The crash site was spotted by a Mi-17 helicopter on June 12 in Siang district and the next day IAF confirmed that all who boarded the aircraft died in the crash.

Those who died in the crash are: Wing Commander GM Charles, Squadron Leader L H Vinod, flight lieutenant R Thapa, Flight Lieutenant A Tanwar, Flight Lieutenant S Mohanty, Flight Lieutenant M K Garg, Warrant Officer K K Mishra, Sergeant Anoop Kumar, Corporal Sherin, Lead Aircraft Man S K Singh, Lead Aircraft Man Pankaj, Non Combatant (Enrolled) Putali and Non Combatant (Enrolled) Rajesh Kumar.

The family members of the victims are awaiting the arrival of mortal remains at the Jorhat air force station.