Almost 54 hours completed, but no traces of the missing ‘courier flight’ AN-32 with 29 members. The last transmission from the missing flight was about the request of deviation to right due to bad weather and it was around 8.46am, the plane disappeared by 9.15am.
Although it is hardest over the deep sea without advanced navigation system but the IAF pilots are thoroughly trained for this.
The last message from the pilot was, “everything is normal”. The flight was about 23,000 feet above the BAY OF BENGAL.
The searching process has become more difficult due to the weather condition over the sea. 13ships, 2 Poseidon P8i and 2 Dorniers and an MI 17 helicopter have been deployed for SAR along with other ships, and the search operation is underway even the monsoon weather is unfavorable. The least point of search is 217 km East of Chennai based on the last transmission from the aircraft.
The point of search is about 3,500 meters deep. A submarine can only travel up to 350 meters and drivers up to 80 meters only. There is a possibility that the ‘emergency locator transmitter’ in the plane may send any signals so that the submarine can locate the position. Since it has been 54 hrs, the specialists are assuming that a fire due to a possible crash is avoiding the systems to send the signals.
It is a complex issue as there is no chance of transmission of signals from the planes that sink in such deep oceans. The reason behind this is no mobile or wireless signals transmit under water.
There is a possibility to locate the missing planes in the deep waters. RADAR IMAGING SATELLITE (RISAT) can take pictures although the surface is cloudy. It can also send the clear pictures taken at night time.
Due to this, a debate has started about the quality of AN-32 planes and about upgrading the navigation system of courier flights.
