Missing plane places kin in financial woes

It’s been five months since the Indian Air Force’s transporter aircraft AN 32 went missing from the sky off Chennai and those onboard including eight civilian employees of Vizagbased Naval Armament Depot (NAD) were presumed dead. In Vizag, the family members of these NAD staff are now struggling to meet their ends. Even as the deaths are not confirmed yet, NAD salaries have stopped going into the accounts of the missing men NAD since September.

The family members fear that it would take long for them to get compensations. Till then, the families are in dire straits. Rajya Sabha member Tapan Sen recently wrote to defence minister Manohar Parrikar, to intervene and help these families out.

“NAD had stopped paying salaries and it has been very difficult for us tomanage. We were asked to sign the declaration forms. Even as the families have signed the death declaration forms, the situation is the same, they are not getting money for their sustenance. Those who went missing were the sole breadwinners of their families. We heard that it will take years for the benefits to be given to the next of kin of the dead. NAD authorities should first ensure that the salaries are paid regularly until the benefits are settled,” said K Kiran Kumar from the family of R Vara Prasad Babu, one of the eight NAD employees onboard the ill-fated aircraft.

Tapan Sen said, “Unfortunately, the families of the missing employees are not paid the salary since September 2016 although thy are presumed to be on duty till they are declared dead.

The aircraft took off from Tambaram airbase at 8.30 am on July 22 with 29 persons onboard. It was to have reached Port Blair at 11.30 am

AN- 32 is a courier flight that takes service personnel to the strategic islands near the Malacca Straits, where India has a military base.

The missing persons were B Sambamurthy (Charge Man F Designation), Bhupendra Singh (Examiner A), armament fitters, P Nagendra Rao RV Prasad Babu (AF HSK-II), Purna Chandra Senapathi (AF SK), Charan Maharana (AF SK), multi tasking men N Chinna Rao (TMM) and G Srinivasa Rao (TMM).

Family members say AN 32 aircrafts have a history of accidents and the July 22 incident was not an isolated one.

Accidents took place in 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1999, 2013 and 2014 and claimed over 100 lives.