On Monday afternoon, an Indian Air Force AN-32 transport aircraft with 13 people on board went missing and has not been found yet. Military as well as satellite resources have been deployed to trace the aircraft. Sukhoi Su-30 combat fighter jets, a C-130 Hercules special operations aircraft have been deployed to find the aircraft.
ISRO is also providing its RISAT radar imaging satellites so as to find the missing aircraft. Indian Air Force Antonov An-32 took off from Jorhat and was flying to an advance landing ground in the Menchuka Valley of Shi Yomi in Arunachal Pradesh near the China border. The aircraft had 8 crew members and 5 passengers and had last made contact at 1 PM yesterday, which is just half an hour after the take off.
On June 9, 2009, a similar aircraft had taken off from the same location with the same arrival had also met a bad fate.
While nothing is clear yet, and there may have been incidents on account of technical or pilot error, our weather experts believe that bad weather may have played a role.
Moreover, the AN 32 was old, and had not been upgraded in the longest time. However, no aircraft are taken off unless they are airworthy.
All these aircraft have weather radars on board but despite this, accidents happen as the terrain in which the aircraft is difficult and complex. Weather conditions are usually bad in the hills, but the terrain makes it worse.
The airplanes flying in the valley have to undergo very complex weather conditions, in fact, from the time you take off from the location, until you reach, is enough to turn weather conditions. These areas can see a 180 degree turn in weather in just a few hours and a bright sunny day can become a snowy one in no time.
Moreover, the orientation of the valley is such, that it is not possible to know what kind of weather is ahead. Weather radars only work without obstruction and in a mountainous terrain, flying is not easy enough and there are several limitations. Due to mountains being on both sides, mountains form an echo, which is what is shown in the radar.
The entire operation gets daring and challenging as the weather conditions change with phenomenal speed. Even when the pilot comes across inclement weather, it is difficult for the pilot to turn around as to turn aircraft, space is needed which is not available in terrains like these. Thus, with no space for manoeuvre, the pilot does not have another option other than moving forward.
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