India launches massive search operation for missing military plane
An Indian military plane with more than 20
people on board has gone missing over the Bay of Bengal, the Indian air force
(IAF) has confirmed to the BBC.
The Indian air force operates more than 100 Antonov-32 aircraft
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The Antonov-32
transporter aircraft took off from Chennai (Madras) at 08:30 local time (03:00
GMT), bound for Port Blair in the eastern archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar.
It was scheduled
to land at 11:30.
Four aircraft,
12 ships and a submarine have been deployed to search for the plane, the
ministry of defence said.
The IAF operates
more than 100 Antonov-32 aircraft.
The Indian Air
Force has a relatively poor safety record and the Russian-made aircraft which
form the backbone of the Indian fleet have been the most accident-prone.
A navy spokesman
told the Reuters news agency that surveillance planes and ships were looking
for the missing aircraft, which was carrying service personnel to strategic
islands near the Malacca Straits, where India has a military base.
India's ministry
of defence initially deployed two aeroplanes and four ships to look for the
missing aircraft.
Eight more
warships and a submarine have now joined the search.
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