Inclement weather on Saturday hampered rescue efforts to retrieve the mortal remains of 13 air-warriors who were on board the IAF aircraft that crashed in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh, an IAF spokesman said.
Shillong-based IAF spokesman Ratnakar Singh said the rescue operation, which commenced early Saturday morning, could not progress due to the weather.
The Cheetah and the ALH helicopters are on standby and waiting to commence operations.
There were low clouds accompanied with rain, the spokesman said in a statement.
The IAF is making all efforts to retrieve the mortal remains.
Families updated
The personnel had been in constant contact with the families of the victims and they were being updated regularly about the rescue operations. They were also being explained the challenges being faced by the rescue team, he added.
The AN—32 transport aircraft of the Air Force with 13 IAF personnel onboard went missing on June 3 after taking off from Assam’s Jorhat.
The aircraft was headed for Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh when it lost contact with ground authorities at around 1300 hours.
After a massive search and rescue operation for eight days, during which assets from several agencies were deployed, the wreckage of the aircraft was located by a Mi—17 chopper.
(With inputs from ANI)
