HIGHLIGHTS
• IAF has confirmed that wreckage of the missing AN-32 has been found
• Wreckage of the missing jet has been spotted at a remote location in Arunachal Pradesh
• 13 people were onboard the fateful IAF jet on June 3 when it went missing
A team of Indian Air Force (IAF) officials have come across the debris of the missing IAF jet AN-32 that went off the radar on June 3. The jet was carrying 13 passengers from Assam's Jorhat to a remote base in Arunachal Pradesh when it went missing around 12:25 pm, half an hour after it took off.
The IAF has confirmed that wreckage of the missing AN-32 was spotted north of Lipo in Arunachal Pradesh.
In a statement on Twitter, IAF said, "The wreckage of the missing #An32 was spotted today 16 Kms North of Lipo, North East of Tato at an approximate elevation of 12000 ft by the #IAF Mi-17 Helicopter undertaking search in the expanded search zone."
The statement, however, makes no mention of the 13 personnel who were travelling in the fateful IAF jet.
Intense search operations have been going on in the area ever since the IAF jet went missing last week.
Family members of the missing personnel who were travelling onboard the jet have been stationed in Assam in anticipation of any news about the jet or its passengers.
According to news agency ANI, location of parts of the aircraft is 15-20 kilometres north of the flight path of the AN-32 aircraft in Arunachal Pradesh. IAF chopper teams were involved in this mission.
Bad weather and stalled aerial search operations for the missing jet for two days early this week while ground operations continued in the mountainous area.
The Russian-origin AN-32 aircraft with 13 people on board lost contact on Monday afternoon after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for Mechuka advanced landing ground near the border with China.
The IAF on Saturday announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh to anyone providing information about the location of the AN-32 transport aircraft.
Resources from various agencies including ISRO were brought in to enhance the effectiveness of the search operations.
The Russian-origin AN-32 transport aircraft took off from Assam's Jorhat at 12.27 pm last Monday for the Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Shi-Yomi district of Arunachal Pradesh.