Naval divers have on Thursday evening identified the 16-metre-long fuselage section of the Dornier aircraft that crashed into sea, navy officials informed. Efforts are now on to locate the two missing personnel.
“The fuselage was detected within half a mile of the location where radar contact was lost and the depth in the area is about 50-60 metres,” officials said.
Earlier in the day INS Makar, a naval hydrographic vessel detected a large metallic object using her side scan sonar which was believed to be that of the crashed Dornier. Subsequently divers from another ship INS Matanga were pressed into service.
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The aircraft was on a routine training mission with three personnel on board when it lost contact with air traffic control 25 nautical miles off Goa coast on the night of March 24.
While Commander Nikhil Joshi who ejected was rescued by a passing fishing boat the other two officers Observer Lieutenant Kiran Shekhawat and co-pilot Sub-Lieutenant Abhinav Nagori are still missing.
The woman officer on board Lieutenant Kiran Shekhawat was part of the women contingent that marched across Rajpath during the Republic Day celebrations in January and is married to a Naval officer.
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The Navy has a fleet of 36 Dornier aircraft for maritime surveillance and search and rescue and this is the first crash since their induction in the 90s.