An IAF plane has crashed in Assam’s Jorhat (Image:X@Brics_Timesx).
Five Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel, including two officers, were killed on Saturday when a military transport aircraft, the Antonov AN-32, crashed during landing at Jorhat in Assam. Among the six personnel on board, one was rescued and is currently in a serious condition.
The five personnel have been identified as Sqn Ldr Prashant Singh, Flt Lt Shubham Kumar, Sgt Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alam.
In a post on X, the IAF said that it deeply regrets the loss of five personnel who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. “IAF extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and stands firmly with them in this hour of grief,” it said.
According to sources, the aircraft took off around 10 am on Saturday from Jorhat to Chabua to conduct a paradrop sortie. Soon after take-off, the aircraft reportedly requested a landing. During this process, it veered off the runway, crossed the parallel taxiway, and broke into two pieces before catching fire. Rescue efforts were launched immediately.
In a separate post on X earlier, the IAF said that the accident occurred during a routine sortie in Jorhat. “Crash site management and initial enquiries are on at this time,” it said, requesting everyone to refrain from speculation till preliminary results are in.
This is the third major crash of an AN-32 in the last 10 years. Bought in 1984 from the erstwhile Soviet Union, the AN-32 is a critical workhorse of the IAF. At least two of these aircraft have crashed since 2016, killing 42 IAF personnel.
On July 22, 2016, an AN-32 went missing while flying over the Bay of Bengal, from Tambaram Air Force Station, Chennai, to Port Blair, killing 29 people on board.
On June 3, 2019, an AN-32 crashed in the hilly terrain when it was heading to Mechuka in the West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, near the border with China, killing 13 people on board.