The Indian Air Force carried out several search missions on Thursday for the Su-30 aircraft and its pilots which went missing near Tezpur on Tuesday but there was no breakthrough.
Su-30 fighter jets, C-130 aircraft, Advanced Light Helicopters and Chetak helicopters have been pressed in for the search and rescue efforts. With the weather improving on Wednesday, the search continued.
“Till now there is no breakthrough,” Air Force sources said.
Routine mission
The Su-30 aircraft with two pilots was on a routine training mission on Tuesday morning as part of a two aircraft formation and lost radar and radio contact with controlling station around 11.10 a.m. The last reported location was 60 km northwest of Tezpur. “Some metal signatures have been picked up during ground scans by the Synthetic Aperture Radar on Su-30 aircraft,” the sources said.
The radars pick up metal concentration on the ground which could be anything. These will be further verified by helicopters to narrow down the search further. Then ground teams will be pressed into service. Officials said that given the tough terrain and weather conditions, the search mission would be a long process.
Meanwhile, the Chinese military said it was paying “close attention” to the incident. Chinese defence spokesman Col. Ren Guochang said the country was keeping a close watch when asked at a briefing whether the Chinese military would help trace the missing jet. However, he declined to give any details and said that the foreign ministry has reacted on the issue a day earlier.
(With inputs from PTI)
