IAF plane crash: No survivors,local reports of explosion in air

The aircraft was being captained by Wing Commander ‘Boots’ Butalia (36),an experienced transport pilot based in Jorhat. IAF officers said he had reported for work after a family vacation in Sikkim. He leaves behind his wife Vaishali and twin boys who turned seven recently. His mother,a school teacher in Chandigarh,was visiting the family in Jorhat and had to be taken to hospital after she learnt of the crash. His father,late Wing Commander N J S Butalia,too was a transport pilot.

Among the dead was a young officer on his first posting who had celebrated his 24th birthday last month. Flight Lieutenant Varun Kumar,who graduated recently from the pilot training school,was from Haryana. The only child of his parents,he had been awarded a commendation for “outstanding performance and devotion to duty” by the Chief of Air Staff.

The AN-32 crashed over Rinchi hill above Heyo village,about 30 km from Mechuka in West Siang,close to the Chinese border.

“The wreckage of the aircraft has been found and it has been ascertained that there are no survivors,” said Wing Commander Ranjib Sahoo,IAF Eastern Command spokesperson.

The AN-32 had flown to Mechuka yesterday from the IAF base at Chabua in Upper Assam. It took off from the ALG at 2 pm but lost radio contact with ground stations at Mechuka and the Rowria IAF base in Jorhat where it was headed.

IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Tarun Kumar Singha told The Indian Express: “A ground search party comprising ITBP personnel,Arunachal Pradesh policemen and village volunteers located the wreckage shortly after 3 pm today. The spot is east of Mechuka,indicating that the mishap may have occurred within 10 to 15 minutes after take-off.”

Singha said two villagers who claimed they saw the aircraft exploding in mid-air accompanied the search party. Debris was strewn over a large area in thick forest.

West Siang Additional SP Hage Laling too said some villagers reported an aircraft exploding in mid-air. “The nearest villages to the spot are Heyo G2 and Rinchi,both inhabited by the Bokar tribe. The ground search party drove a few kilometres out of Tato,then marched on foot from 8.30 am to reach the spot around 3 pm,” he said.

— With ENS from Chandigarh