Missing Su-30 jet wreckage found, fate of crew not known

The wreckage of the IAF's Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet, which went missing with two pilots on board, was found today in a dense forest near Tezpur in Assam after a three-day search operation, but fate of the crew is not known.

The Indian Air Force ordered a court of inquiry into the crash, hours after the debris of the fighter plane was sighted in an area 60 km from Tezpur airbase with which it lost radar and radio contact on Tuesday.

The Su-30 MKI jet had gone missing shortly after taking off from Tezpur Air Force station on a routine training sortie.

"A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident," IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Anupam Banerjee said in Delhi.

The identity of the missing pilots has not been disclosed and the worst is feared.

IAF officials said the wreckage was spotted from air and there will be clarity once the teams on the ground reach the crash site.

Banerjee said the the teams will launch a search for pilots and the flight data recorder.

"The search parties of the Army are also trekking their way to the crash site. However, their progress is getting hampered due to inclement weather, thick foliage and steep terrain," he said.

Lt. Col. Sombit Ghosh, spokesperson of the Army's Tezpur-based IV Corps, told

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)