Air Force plane carrying 13 missing after taking off from Assam

SRINAGAR, (PTK): An Indian Air Force transport aircraft that took off from Assam’s Jorhat with 13 people onboard on Monday has gone missing over over hilly terrain in the Northeast.

The Antonov An-32 took off at 12:27 pm for a remote military landing strip in Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh.

The aircraft last had contact with ground crew at 1 pm NDTV reported. The normal flight time between Jorhat and Mechuka is about 50 minutes.

The Air Force has launched a search operation and spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel P Khongsai said every effort was being made to locate the missing plane. The Indian Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the state disaster relief force joined the search along with planes and helicopters.