IAF An-32: Rescue teams today recovered the black box of the aircraft.The Indian Air Force Friday announced that the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder — commonly known as the black box — have been recovered from the crash site in Arunachal Pradesh.
In a statement issued, the IAF said the process of recovering mortal remains of those killed in the crash was still underway. Poor weather conditions in the region were hampering operations thereby affecting the pace of recovery. On Thursday, the IAF inducted three additional mountaineers to assist the team.
The rescue operations are being carried out by a team of civil, army and IAF personnel.
Those killed in the crash were Wing Commander GM Charles, Squadron Leader H Vinod, Flight Lieutenant MK Garg, Flight Lieutenant S Mohanty, Flight Lieutenant A Tanwar, Flight Lieutenant R Thapa, Warrant Officer KK Mishra, Sergeant Anoop Kumar, Corporal Sherin, Leading Aircraftman SK Singh and Leading Aircraftman Pankaj.
The An-32, a Russian-origin aircraft, went missing on June 3, about 30 minutes after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for Menchuka in Arunachal Pradesh. After eight days of search operations, the wreckage of the plane was spotted by an IAF chopper at a height of 12,000 ft near Gatte village on the border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts. The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry into the accident, terming it as one of the worst involving a military aircraft in recent years.
