2 missing as Navy aircraft plunges into sea

Two naval officers, including a woman observer, are missing and one rescued after a surveillance aircraft belonging to the Indian Navy crashed into the Arabian Sea on Tuesday night off Goa coast.

"A Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy on a routine night training sortie ditched at sea about 20 nautical miles South West of Goa on the night of March 24. The Naval Air Station at Goa lost radar contact with the aircraft at 10.08 pm," said a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence.

On Wednesday, 12 naval and Coast Guard ships and four aircraft were pressed for search and rescue operations. "Floating debris was found in the sea and it has been salvaged for further investigations or to ascertain the cause of the incident. However, the main fuselage is still underwater," said an officer.

While a technical glitch is believed to be behind the crash, the navy has launched a Board of Inquiry.

Naval chief Admiral RK Dhowan flew to Goa, where he met families of the crew members as well as Commander Nikhil Kuldeep Joshi, who was rescued by a Niharika, a fishing trawler. Joshi is being treated at Indian Naval Hospital Patanjali at Karwar and is stable.