Sir john Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 A MiG 29 crashed in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul Valley, police said on Wednesday. Two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters began a search operation to locate the wreckage of the aircraft in the treacherous mountain terrain. There is no official confirmation about the number of people on board the aircraft that crashed during a night flying exercise in Lahaul and Spiti district Tuesday. "Two small choppers have arrived from the IAF base in Udhampur (in Jammu and Kashmir) and started recce. Still no aircraft fuselage has been reported," Deputy Superintendent of Police Khajana Ram told reporters. He said a team of rescue workers, comprising police personnel, had also been rushed to the hilltop spot to start the search operation. The accident spot is quite treacherous and inaccessible. Superintendent of Police Bimal Gupta said a communication was received from the IAF at around 8.30 p.m. Tuesday that a MiG 29 has crashed. "A team of rescue workers has reached Chokhang village from where they have started trudging up the mountain to reach the accident spot. By evening the team is likely to reach the spot," he said. The hilltop is totally devoid of forest and there are chances that the wreckage could be located easily, Gupta said. Chokhang village on the Keylong-Udaipur highway is about 40 km from the district headquarters of Keylong and 450 km from here. "We have no information about the number of people on board the aircraft," Deputy Commissioner Rajeev Shankar said. Eyewitnesses told police that they noticed a fireball in the sky and heard a loud sound on Tuesday night.
Sir john Posted October 25, 2011 Author Posted October 25, 2011 132 sorties fail in locating crashed MIG-29: Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) has been extensively searching for the wreckage of a MIG-29 aircraft which crashed in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul Valley early Wednesday morning. The IAF, today, in a press statement said till date 132 sorties have been flown towards search and rescue operations. Here's the press statement by the Indian Air Force: A massive search operation has been launched by the IAF to search for the missing MIG -29 aircraft and its pilot Squadron Leader DS Tomar that crashed on the night of 18 October 11 in the mountainous area of Lahaul Spiti in Himachal Pradesh. Till date 132 sorties have been flown towards search and rescue (SAR) operations. Considering the remote, high altitude treacherous snow clad mountainous region at elevations extending from 15000 ft to 20000 ft above mean sea level and the fact that no radio call was received from the pilot of the missing aircraft has made the search effort very demanding. All available data including that from other aircraft flying in the area, inputs from the formation leader, data on his aircraft as well as reports from civil police received through villagers in the area were collated to ascertain the probable crash site. While analysing the data, a coherent plan for mounting SAR operations was conceptualised and the search aircraft were airborne on the first light on 19 October. Within first 24 hours a total of 22 sorties were mounted that flew over 41 hours. These included SU-30, Jaguar, RPA, Cheetah, Cheetal and An-32 aircraft which searched the probable areas by high tech electro optical equipment and visual means covering wide extensive search for wreckage and deep intensive search to locate the missing pilot. The search patterns were planned for each type of sensor employed depending on the height and time of the day. The data collected from these are being analysed by specialist in imagery interpretation. Team of these specialists are constantly at work since the occurrence on 18 October. The National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) has been approached to make available data of the probable search area that may have been covered by any of the satellites. This effort was important as no radio call was received from the crashed aircraft and early sighting of the missing pilot and the ac wreckage was important. On subsequent days similar search effort by air were launched maintaining the tempo and refining the search based on inputs received from data collected the previous day. The effort was augmented by the ground search parties of air warriors and Indian Army. The aircraft involved in search are being launched from Leh, Udhampur, Jammu, Bareilly etc where the specialised equipment is located to cover the large area of search in the mountains. Alongside search by air, ground parties were airlifted with specially trained and acclimatised troops. Gp Capt PK Sharma VM was assigned the Task Force Commander for the search effort ex 'Kelylong' in 'Lahaul' area. 'Thirot' village Sarpanch with help of villagers brought a few wreckage components which were identified to be that of MIG-29 aircraft. However the entire area came under fresh snow following a spell of bad weather. Even though the combat Exercise has got over, the HQ WAC has remained focused to the task of SAR which is being undertaken on a war footing. The Ladakh Scouts and other elements of Indian Army, the air warriors of IAF mountaineering team are being utilised for the ground search effort. IAF has also employed local mountaineers who are best suited for undertaking search operations in the snowbound, high altitude regions for extended period. The aviation accident experts who have flown over the area are of the opinion that the ground party is likely to be most effective since the aircraft may have disintegrated after the impact and the debris is spread across the slopes on either side of the ridge line. Nothing can be said with certainty at this stage until the crash site is conclusively identified and flight data recorder (black box) is recovered and analysed. Since the time of the occurrence, IAF authorities are in constant touch with the family of the missing pilot providing them inputs on the progress of the search and rescue effort. Search for MiG-29 wreckage continues Intensive combing operations continued on Tuesday in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul Valley to locate the wreckage of an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 combat jet that crashed a week ago. The pilot's fate is still not known. "Both ground and aerial recces were conducted by the IAF and the Indian Army as the sky remained cleared throughout the day," Lahaul and Spiti district's Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajeev Shankar said. A statement issued by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal Tuesday directed the district administration to intensify the search for the plane's pilot, Squadron Leader B.S. Tomar. Tomar's family has already reached Lahaul Valley from Indore in Madhya Pradesh. The family has announced a reward of Rs50,000 to anyone who provides conclusive clues about him. The IAF has identified the hills above Chokhang village, located on the Keylong-Udaipur highway and 40 km from district headquarters Keylong, where the jet crashed. The pilot, who had taken off from Adampur near Jalandhar in Punjab Oct 19, was on night flying training mission. Some locals have spotted burnt pieces of the aircraft in the hills of Thirot but the search parties haven't been able to reach the site due to hostile weather. The entire mountain range in the valley is treacherous and the rock cliffs are quite steep and the gorges narrow.
ganeshran Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 IAF is not having a good week in the office. A thorough enquiry is needed
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