Missing Sukhoi-30 jet’s wreckage found, IAF orders inquiry

The wreckage of the Sukhoi-30 jet that went missing with two pilots was located on Friday on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border after a three-day search operation.

“Bad weather in the area is hampering the operation. The fate of the two pilots is not known yet,” said defence spokesperson Lt Col Sombit Ghosh. He told HT that the wreckage has been located near the coordinates, about 60 km north of Tezpur town in north-central Assam, where the last contact with the fighter aircraft was made.

Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force on Friday ordered a court of inquiry into the accident.

“A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Anupam Banerjee said here Tezpur is one of the three IAF air bases in the country that host the Sukhois.

The Su-30 jet took off from the IAF Tezpur air base, located about 172 km from the IndiaChina border in Arunachal Pradesh around 9.30 am on a routine training mission on May 23.

It lost radar and radio contact with the controlling station around 11.10 am near Arunachal Pradesh’s Doulasang area, an area adjoining China, 60 km north of Tezpur.

Last year, a Sukhoi-30MKI crashed near Nagaon town of Assam during a routine sortie. While the two pilots ejected safely, some locals suffered splinter injuries in the crash.

M777 ultra-light howitzer guns have reached Pokhran in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer for testing, which will be carried out over the next 2-3 months.

The guns reached the firing range a couple of days back with an American team. The testing will be carried out and different kinds of ammunition will be fired, following which due analysis will be conducted, defence sources said.

Induction of the guns manufactured by BAE systems is scheduled to commence from March 2019 at the rate of five guns per month till the complete consignment is received by mid 2021.

The weapon system was contracted in November last year with the US in a government-togovernment deal for the supply of 145 howitzers at a cost of nearly ₹5,000 crore. PTI Millions of Indians exposed to hazardous waste are unaware of the threats.