We have it on good authority that the transport plane was on the ground at Jorhat on Saturday when it crashed, with the pilot’s fate in question. At the Roureah Air Force Station, which is of some importance, there was no time to be lost in mounting a response. Now they are looking into what transpired.
What happened during landing
From what we can piece together, the aircraft put down inside the perimeter of the base. A defence official put it at the IAF’s airbase in the Rowriah part of the Jorhat district.
Some early reports have it that the plane had already made it to the tarmac before a fire started. Fire and emergency crews from the base were on the scene in a hurry to put it out, per officials.
Official confirmation and on-ground response
The IAF has put out a statement: ‘Jorhat- Today an AN-32 of IAF met with an accident. Further update will be provided once more details are available’. You can find senior IAF people at the site now as they see to the rescue work.
They are not holding out much hope for the pilot of the ill-fated plane. As for the rest of the crew, if there was one, we don’t have the numbers yet and any casualties are to be confirmed.
Why Jorhat matters
Roureah is a big name in the Northeast for the IAF; it’s where you go for the kind of missions and supply runs that keep Assam and beyond in order. A mishap here speaks to the pace of things in these hard-to-reach, sensitive spots.
It was an AN-32, the kind of workhorse you rely on for moving goods. Though in one report on Saturday it was called an AN-31 cargo type.
Context and recent incidents
No one can say for sure why it happened. The IAF has opened a file on it and will be going over the evidence – the landing, the state of the plane, how the emergency was handled.
You have to put up with the fact that the AN-32 has been in about 22 crashes in India since 1986, with one as late as last year. And yet, it is still one of their most used planes for the job at hand.
This is not the first time we’ve heard of trouble in the area. A few months back, a Sukhoi-30MKI from the IAF was lost on a training run some 60 km from here at Inglong Ekopi Hill in the Karbi Anglong district.
What comes next
There is no timetable for when we’ll have answers. But the Air Force says to expect more as they make headway on the ground.
Here is the situation on the ground, from what we have been told:
– Rescue is being done within the airbase
– The fire was put out right away
– IAF brass is at the location
– An investigation is on the books
– We are waiting for the IAF to say more
For the moment, it is about making sure the site is in order, checking on the men, and getting the facts. Since the base is so central to what the IAF does in the Northeast, eyes will be on any fallout for how they handle their sorties and the runway.
The IAF is asking for a bit of patience while they sort things out at Jorhat. We should have more to report once the initial work is done.
