As search continues for the missing AN-32 transport aircraft, the Indian Air Force has informed the families of the 29 personnel onboard that their kin are “presumed dead.”
“This is an administrative procedure required to be done to clear compensation for the next of kin. The search will continue,” a senior IAF officer said on Thursday. In a letter to the families dated August 24, 2016, the IAF said, “The Court of Inquiry, upon careful scrutiny of the circumstantial evidence available, has concluded that it is unlikely that the missing personnel on board the ill-fated aircraft would have survived the accident.”
PTI adds:
“It is with a feeling of profound sadness that the Court of Inquiry has recommended that your son/daughter be presumed to have been fatally injured,” read the letter.
IAF sources said the families have been given the information so that they can go ahead with insurance and other administrative formalities.
The letter came annexed with a certificate of presumption of death.
“The search for missing An-32 is still in progress,” defence sources said.
The plane did not have an underwater locator system, which has made the search difficult.
“No fewer than 201 search and rescue sorties, using all suitable aircraft at our disposal were undertaken.
Approximately 2,17,800 square nautical miles (Sq. Nm) have been covered multiple times by these aircraft,” the letter stated.
“International emergency response teams and satellites from USA also did not help in getting any concrete information about the missing aircraft,” it added.
