IAF Plane AN-32 missing: Two Odia Youth on board

Two Odia Youth from Odisha were among the 29 people in an Indian Air Force (IAF) AN-32 transport aircraft, mostly military personnel, which went missing on its way from Chennai to Port Blair on Friday morning.

Charana Maharana, a resident Of Sukunda Village under Kukudakhandi block of Ganjam District of Odisha was the youngest son of Sudam Maharana and Bishnu Maharana who had joined Indian Navy as a technician in 2014. The family of Charan was in despair and grief. His mobile phone is unreacheabe and the family members were informed about the missing plane by one of their relatives.

Another person has been identified as Purnachandra Senapati, who was a resident of Rangranga village near Panikoili in Jajpur district was on the same aircraft which went on missing on Friday over the Bay of Bengal off the Chennai coast.

The IAF aircraft was last spotted on the radar by Air Traffic Control officials at 8.12 am. It was carrying 23 personnel on board, including six crew members.

The aircraft took off from Tambaram air base near Chennai at 8.30 am and was expected to arrive at 11.30 am at Port Blair. However, it went missing at 9.15 am, 280 km east of Chennai after climbing to an altitude of 23,000 feet.