Search operations continue by IAF for missing Sukhoi fighter jet

Helicopters and aircraft have been pressed into service by the Indian Air Force to search for the Sukhoi fighter jet that went missing with two pilots onboard over Tezpur in Assam. But bad weather affected the operation.

The IAF said the search operation is continuing despite overcast sky and spells of rains and thundershowers in parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh where the SU-30 MKI plane is suspected to have crashed.

The Sukhoi jet went missing after taking off from Tezpur



Air Force station at 10:30 AM on Tuesday. An IAF spokesperson said in New Delhi that a Su-30 aircraft with recce capability is also being utilised for locating the missing plane.

Apart from the aerial assets, four groups of IAF personnel, nine parties of the Indian Army and two teams from the state administration have been deployed to look for the fighter jet.

The first batch of the Russia-made fighter jet was inducted by the IAF in the late 1990s.