AN-32 leads prove to be false
Mr Parikkar also said no beeps from the missing AN-32 have been heard so far.
Chennai: A small object floating in the sea some 145 nautical miles east of Chennai raised hopes of locating the missing Indian Air Force plane, but that faded quickly with reports coming in that the ‘orange’ coloured finding could be ‘just debris unconnected with the AN 32’.
An official privy to the massive search operations in the Bay of Bengal told Deccan Chronicle that the object was found floating in the sea when the ships were scouring for the aircraft, missing since last Friday and top officials were alerted immediately. “However, the object was soon found to be completely unconnected with the missing aircraft,” the official said.
As the frantic search operations entered its fifth day, officials said the hopes of survivors have completely faded and now they are concentrating on finding the plane or its debris in the sea. The official said most of the leads that the search teams encountered have found to be false leads, leading the search operations to nowhere.
As the families of the 29 people who were onboard the ill-fated aircraft waited with bated breath for fifth straight day, Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar said all leads that were available so far were found to be “bad” and that search operations are in full swing.
“There are 4-5 small leads and attempts are being made to verify them,” he told the Rajya Sabha, while asserting that search teams are trying to verify whether these are “real or false” alarms. Satellite imagery are being used and 30 ships and submarines are on the job for the purpose, Parikkar said, adding that An 32 is one of the safest aircraft and there have been reports of only two accidents in the last 10 years.
“A lot of resources have been deployed to find the missing aircraft and we are also trying our best to find out leads. Till now all the leads were of no use, but we are trying to concentrate on some areas and trying to find out whether that can be used as some lead,” he said.
Mr Parikkar also said no beeps from the missing AN-32 have been heard so far. “...Can’t say whether it is operating or not now but we have not been able to hear it,” he said.