A Dornier aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard went missing on Monday night.
The aircraft had three highly experienced crew members onboard and had taken off from Chennai airport at 5:30 PM on a routine sortie. It was expected to land in Pondicherry at 10:30 PM.
The authorities lost contact with the crew around 9:23 PM. The Dornier aircraft cannot fly above 10,000 feet and are mainly used for low altitude maritime surveillance.
Five Coast Guard ships, four Naval ships, along with Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy aircraft and a long-range maritime surveillance aircraft P81 are undertaking search and rescue operation in the area.
-Coast Guard Statement
The aircraft, CG-791, which was inducted last year, was in touch with airport authorities in Tiruchirappalli and was last located about 16 nautical miles off the coast of Chidambaram, somewhere between Cuddalore and Karaikal, a top Coast Guard official told PTI.
Second Incident This Year
A similar incident had claimed two Indian Navy officers in March, when the Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft they were flying on, crashed about 25 nautical miles south-west off Goa.
(With inputs from agencies.)