Multi-coloured oil seen in concentric circles indicating oozing of oil in area under focus, tweets Sitanshu Kar, Spokesperson, Defence Ministry
A submarine has joined the search for the Dornier aircraft that went missing off the coast of Tamil Nadu on Monday. The submarine begins its search off the coast of Chidambaram, about 200 km south of Chennai. Meanwhile, a lab tests of a second oil slick in the search area failed to locate aviation fuel.
The submarine's entry into the search operations comes after a Navy ship
picked up beacon signals from what is likely to be from the aircraft, which went missing with three crew members on board.
INS Sandhyak picked up the signals south of Puducherry, between Port Novo and Karaikal, close to where the Coast Guard's aircraft is estimated to have disappeared.
"INS Sandhyak undertaking sub-surface search, detected intermittent transmission of 37.5 Khz, likely to be from the Sonar Locator Beacon (SLB) of the missing aircraft," a statement from the Defence Ministry said today. It also said that "a multi coloured sheen of oil in concentric circles was sighted which indicated oozing of oil," adding that the "sample of oil has been sent to the laboratory for analysis.
Earlier on Thursday, test reports had found no trace of aviation fuel in water samples from a suspected oil spill in the sea.
The Dornier that took off from Chennai on Monday evening on a routine surveillance flight was last tracked 16 kilometres east off Chidambaram coast by radar in Trichy 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.
A fleet of 10 ships have been deployed, including INS Sindhudhwaj which will join the search operations to trace the missing aircraft today.
The Coast Guard has roped in experienced divers, scientists and microbiologists as part of efforts to locate the Dornier. A research vessel of the National Institute of Ocean Technology is heading to the region to assist in the search. The department has also sought the assistance of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services.