Five killed when an Indian military transport plane crashes.

Five Indian Air Force personnel died when a military transport aircraft crashed while attempting to land at a base in the remote northeast of the country on Saturday, the military said in a statement.

“The Indian Air Force deeply regrets the loss of five personnel in the An-32 accident at Jorhat,” a city in Assam state, the air force said.

The statement did not disclose how many people were on board or whether there were any survivors. An air force official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media, told AFP that the co‑pilot had survived.

News channel NDTV broadcast images of the crash site, showing a thick black plume of smoke and the aircraft apparently broken into pieces.

The air force said it “extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and stands firmly with them in this hour of grief”.

It added that the Russian‑made Antonov An‑32 was on a “routine sortie” when it crashed as it came in to land.

A court of inquiry has been constituted to determine the cause of the accident.

The An‑32, a twin‑engine turboprop, is specially designed to perform well at high altitudes and in extreme climates. The Indian air force operates about 100 of them for military supplies and civilian aid in the country’s remotest mountain areas.

The last major crash involving the plane occurred in 2019 in Arunachal Pradesh state, near the border with China, when 13 people were killed.

AFP

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