Visakhapatnam : The navy rescue operation continued on second day today to trace the Indian Air Force (IAF) AN-32 transport aircraft which went missing over the Bay of Bengal, with 29 people on board. The aircraft which was on its way to Port Blair, had eight officials of Naval Armament Depot (NAD), went missing yesterday, soon after it took off from the Tambaram Air Force base in Chennai. The families were worried over the fate of their loved ones and were anxiously waiting for some information from the ongoing search operations. Those missing include NAD chargeman Sambamurthy, armament fitters Prasad Babu, Nagendra Rao, Senapati, Maharana, Chinna Rao and multi-tasking employee Srinivas Rao. District Administration Officials reported that Chinna Rao and Nagendra Rao belong to Bucchirajupalem in the city while Srinivasa Rao is from Vepagunta. Prasada Babu is a resident of a colony near KGH in Vizag while Maharana and Senapati hail from Orissa and examiner Bupender Singh from the north of India. The eight member team started from the Port City on July 20 and reached Chennai the next day. The employees were assigned to fix the routine Defect Rectification in weapon on CRN-9 Battimalv, which is in Port Blair. Chinna Rao’s family members said the naval officials informed them about the missing aircraft around 1530 hrs. They were told that search operations were launched to trace the plane. “Since then, there is no information,” Chinna Rao’s son said. Mr Rao had called his family on Thursday night to inform that he will be leaving for Port Blair along with others for routine maintenance work. Officials said a massive search and rescue operation involving aircraft, helicopters, ships and a submarine was launched and will continue throughout the night. (Agencies)
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