Jorhat: Five Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel are reported to have been killed in the AN-32 transport aircraft crash at Air Force Station Jorhat on Saturday morning.
The tragic accident occurred when the aircraft, flying in from Arunachal Pradesh, caught fire and then crashed immediately after landing.
A Court of Inquiry has been ordered by the IAF to ascertain the cause of the accident.
The co-pilot
of the aircraft was brought out alive by rescuers and is now undergoing treatment, News18 reported.
The IAF has confirmed the crash but hasn’t provided further details as yet.
It is also not clear whether the aircraft caught fire first and then crashed or if it was the other way around.
The An-32 is the workhorse of the IAF and is used to transport men and material. Air Force Station Jorhat is one of the bases of these aircraft that are used to keep forward posts supplied.
This is the second tragedy involving Jorhat this year. Barely three months ago, the pilot and weapons specialist were killed in a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet crash in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam.
On March 5, the twin-seat fighter aircraft took off for a routine sortie from AFS Jorhat and lost communication with ground control at around 7.42 pm. After that, the aircraft could no longer be tracked. Officials said the fighter jet eventually crashed in a remote hilly area of Karbi Anglong district, located about 60 km from Jorhat.
(This is a developing story)