New Delhi: The massive search operation that had been launched by Indian Airforce, Indian Navy and Indian Coastguard is said to go 24/7.
In the latest development, the number of ships deployed for the search and rescue currently stands at 17.
An Indian Air Force AN32 aircraft with 29 defence personnel went missing 150 miles off Chennai earlier in the day.
The AN-32 aircraft that departed from Tambaram at 0830 hours, Chennai. The last contact with the aircraft was 16 minutes after take-off, defence sources said.
It was carrying service personnel to the strategic islands near the Malacca Straits, where India has a military base.
Indian Coast Guard was the first to launch the search and rescue operation of the missing Indian Air Force aircraft said that the incident happened between 9.14am and 9.23 am.
"The plane is still missing. All efforts are being done to trace the plane and the service personnel travelling on board," Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told PTI in the evening.
The 29 people on board the Air Force's workhorse for a long period included six crew members, two of them pilots and one navigator.
Besides, there were 11 personnel from the IAF including an officer, two from the Army, one from the Coast Guard and 9 from the navy which included some from its armament depot.
Defence sources said the plane was at about 23,000 feet when the last contact was established.
Indian coastguard immediately after the incident sent in ICG ships Sagar and Samudra Pahredar for search and rescue mission. A P8I aircraft and one Donier aircraft from Chennai was also pressed into service.
Meanwhile, a Coastguard spokesman said that two additional coastguard ship and a Dornier from Port Blair has also been pressed for search and rescue mission. More military assets are being mobilized to help in the search and rescue operations.
IAF has more than 100 Russian-made AN-32s in service. The aircraft can fly for up to four hours without refueling.
The AN32 is believed to be taking in logistics supplies from Tambaram airbase to Port Blair when the incident occurred.
It is learnt that the crew would have landed from Sulur airbase to Tambaram airbase before proceeding to Port Blair.
Indian Navy has sent in four vessels Karmukh, Gharial, Jyoti and Kuthar to carry out search and rescue operations.
Officials with the naval station, INS Kattabomman, at Tirunelveli said there have not received any official communication yet.
The Coast Guard personnel from other stations and the Coastal Security Group of the Tamil Nadu police say they are yet to join the operations.
The aircraft can fly for up to four hours without refuelling.
Speaking of the AN-32, sources said that it is a light military transport multi-purpose aircraft that can operated in various climate conditions, including hot climate (up to + 50°C) and from the mountain airfields up to 4500 m elevation.
The main purpose of the aircraft is to transport cargo over short and medium range air routes.
The aircraft flight navigation system and radio communication equipment enables performance of flights under adverse weather conditions, during the day and night, for local and international air routes.
