Five Dead in Crash of Indian Air Force Transport Plane

SadaNews - A military transport aircraft, the "Antonov - An 32" of the Indian Air Force, crashed today (Saturday) while landing at the Jorhat Air Base (northeast India), resulting in the death of five people, as announced by the army.

The army stated in a communiqué, "The Indian Air Force regrets the death of five of its personnel in the Jorhat incident," without revealing the identities of the victims and offering condolences to their families, according to the "French Press Agency."

The army mentioned in a previous statement today that "an An-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force encountered an accident today during its landing in Jorhat. An investigation has been opened to determine the causes of the incident."

Indian media displayed footage showing thick columns of black smoke rising above the base, followed by images of the wreckage of the Russian-made aircraft, surrounded by soldiers in uniform.

In 2019, an aircraft of the same model that had taken off from the Jorhat base, near the Chinese border, crashed, resulting in the death of all 13 passengers and crew members.

The Indian Air Force operates about a hundred of these old Russian twin-engine aircraft, which are used for many air transport missions.