NEW DELHI, May 26: Wreckage of the Indian Air Force’s Sukhoi 30 fighter jet, which went missing on Tuesday, was found in a heavily forested area of Arunachal Pradesh. The area is covered in dense foliage and the wreckage was found close to the last known location of the aircraft.

The jet had lost radar and radio contact 60km north of Tezpur in Assam. Two pilots were on-board the aircraft.

The plane went missing at 11:30 am, around 60 km north of the Tezpur IAF base from where it had taken off, said a defence spokesman and the deputy commissioner of Sonitpur district where the IAF station is located.

The Sukhoi Su-30 is a Russian-made, twin-engine fighter meant for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface missions. The first of the Su-30 planes were inducted by the IAF in the late 1990s.

Since their induction, six crashes have taken place. An inquiry into the plane accidents has primarily indicated technical failure as their cause.

Earlier this month, another Sukhoi-30MKI of the IAF crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer district, leaving three villagers injured.

However, both the pilots of the twin-engine aircraft ejected safely.

The government had, earlier this month, informed the Rajya Sabha that as many as 22 fighter aircraft of IAF have crashed since 2013-14 and human error and technical defects were the main reasons for the accidents.

---

Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

<< Back to News List