5 ICG and 4 IN ships, aircraft including LRMS a/c P8I are conducting SAR 4 the missing Dornier (File pic), Sitanshu Kar tweeted
A massive search operation has been launched to trace three crew members on board a Dornier aircraft which has been missing since last evening.
The aircraft, which belongs to the Coast Guard, is said to have been on a routine surveillance sortie over the sea when it went off the radar. At the time, it was located some 152 km south of Chennai.
The plane had taken off from Chennai around 5:30 pm and lost contact at 9:23 pm.
The aircraft was being flown by Deputy Commandant Vidyasagar and had on board Deputy Commandant MK Soni, the co-pilot, and Navigator Deputy Commandant Subash Suresh.
"The missing Dornier a/c was the latest induction in ICG, in 2014, and was being flown by highly experienced crew," defence spokesman Sitanshu Kar posted on Twitter.
Nine navy and coast guard boats and a P8-1 aircraft were being used in the ongoing search, Mr Kar said.
"We are proud of the highly qualified pilots and the navigator. We have launched an unparalleled search mission to save them. We are confident we would be able to find them soon. Based on the wind position, we have compounded our efforts in that area," said SP Sharma, Inspector General of Coast Guard.
In March, a Dornier belonging to the Navy crashed off Goa coast, killing two officers - Lieutenant Abhinav Nagori and Lt. Kiran Shekhawat - on board. The pilot, Commander Nikhil Kuldip Joshi, was rescued by fishermen.
It was the first crash of a Dornier since the reconnaissance aircraft was inducted into the Navy in the early 1990s.