The Indian Air Force on Thursday confirmed that all 13 on board AN-32 transport aircraft had died days after the plane went missing near the China border in Arunachal Pradesh.
In a series of tweets, the IAF wrote, “Following air-warriors lost their life in the tragic #An32 crash – W/C GM Charles, S/L H Vinod, F/L R Thapa, F/L A Tanwar, F/L S Mohanty, F/L MK Garg, WO KK Mishra, Sgt Anoop Kumar, Cpl Sherin, LAC SK Singh, LAC Pankaj, NC(E) Putali & NC(E) Rajesh Kumar.”
Following air-warriors lost their life in the tragic #An32 crash – W/C GM Charles, S/L H Vinod, F/L R Thapa, F/L A Tanwar, F/L S Mohanty, F/L MK Garg, WO KK Mishra, Sgt Anoop Kumar, Cpl Sherin, LAC SK Singh, LAC Pankaj, NC(E) Putali & NC(E) Rajesh Kumar.
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) June 13, 2019
Janta Ka Reporter exclusively accessed had the names of those travelling on AN-32 before it went missing on 3 June. As reported by Janta Ka Reporter, the IAF personnel travelling in the ill-fated transport plane belonged to the 43rd Squadron of the Indian Air Force. The aircraft tail number was described as KA2752.
The IAF on Thursday also paid tribute to its ‘brave air warriors’ as it wrote, “IAF Pays tribute to the brave Air-warriors who lost their life during the #An32 crash on 03 Jun 2019 and stands by with the families of the victims. May their soul rest in peace.”
IAF Pays tribute to the brave Air-warriors who lost their life during the #An32 crash on 03 Jun 2019 and stands by with the families of the victims. May their soul rest in peace.
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) June 13, 2019
This came after the IAF informed that eight members of the rescue team had finally been able to reach the crash site on Thursday morning morning. It wrote, “IAF is sad to inform that there are no survivors from the crash of An32.”
In July 2016, an AN-32 transport plane of the Indian Air Force carrying 29 people on board, including four officers, had gone missing while flying from Chennai to Port Blair. The missing aircraft was never found and the search operation had to be called off two months later.