Dornier CG 791 aircraft went missing along with three officers on board, while it was returning after a regular surveillance sortie last Monday evening. The aircraft was 16 nautical miles off Chidambaram coast at 9.23 PM, while it lost contact. Raising hopes of getting a clue for locating the missing Coast Guard Dornier, Indian Navy's INS Sandhyak, which has been undertaking sub-surface search has received intermittent transmission, while searching near the last known location of the aircraft, of 37.5 kHz, likely to be from the Sonar Locator Beacon (SLB) of the aircraft. The aircraft’s last known position was near Karaikkal.
"INS Sandhayak has picked up signals from the missing aircraft. The signals were picked up from the aircraft which has Sonar Locating Beacon and it can transmit signals upto 30 days," Inspector General S P Sharma, Commander, Coast Guard (East), Chennai, said. "Further tests are being done to get a more precise location of the missing aircraft," Sharma said
According to a Ministry of Defense, "The transmission is around the position where the Air Traffic Control (ATC) radar had lost contact of the aircraft. Submarine INS Sindhudhvaj is likely to arrive in the area late in the evening for further augmentation of sub-surface search." "A multi coloured sheen of oil in concentric circles was sighted which indicated oozing of oil. The sample of oil has been sent to the laboratory for analysis," they added. Reliance India Limited has been approached to extend the services of the Multi Support Vessel (MSV) with Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) for underwater operations."
The fate of its crew, Deputy commandant Vidyasagar, co-pilot and deputy commandant Subash Suresh and navigator MK Soni, all in their 30s are still unknown. The Coast Guard has engaged experienced divers, scientists and microbiologists for the search. A research vessel of the National Institute of Ocean Technology is also moving towards the region to assist in the search. The assistance of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services is also sought.
By Premji
