An-32 crash: Rajnath Singh pays homage to air-warriors, meets their families

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Friday paid homage to the 13 personnel who lost their lives in the An-32 crash in Arunachal Pradesh earlier this month. He also met the families and friends of the deceased at Palam airport.

Paid tributes to brave Air-warriors @IAF_MCC, who lost their lives in the unfortunate An-32 crash on 03 June, 19 in Arunachal Pradesh.

They served the nation with confidence and courage. I salute their sacrifice in the line of duty. pic.twitter.com/V8bH2aWh4L

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) June 21, 2019

On Thursday, IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh said that the IAF had recovered bodies of six men and mortal remains of seven other personnel on board the Indian Air Force’s ill-fated transport aircraft. It took 17 days to retrieve the bodies as the rescue team had to face poor weather conditions at the crash site.

Personnel who lost their lives in the crash were identified as Wing Commander G M Charles, Squadron Leader H Vinod, Flight Lieutenant M K Garg, Flight Lieutenant S Mohanty, Flight Lieutenant A Tanwar, Flight Lieutenant R Thapa, Warrant Officer KK Mishra, Sergeant Anoop Kumar, Corporal Sherin, Leading Aircraftman S K Singh and Leading Aircraftman Pankaj.

After eight days of search operations, the wreckage of the plane was spotted by an IAF chopper at a height of 12,000 ft on the border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts at a remote location in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder — commonly known as the black box — was also retrieved earlier. The data from the black box is under analysis and the authorities are trying to determine the cause of the crash. The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry into the accident.